You're the Storm
by Britva
Summary: Arya holds Riverun after working to reunite the North. A Lord from her past lays seige to her lands in an attempt to win her hand but ends up being sucked into helping Arya find her missing brothers. Will all his trouble get him what he wants?
1. Chapter 1

This was inspired by the Cranberries song 'You're the Storm' hence the title. It's recommended listing for when you're reading this. As always, I do not own the characters or locations; just the plot.

You're the Storm

Old Nan sat by the fire with little towheaded Prue dandling on her knee. The little girl had asked for a story and Nan was searching her long memory for one she hadn't told already.

"Have you ever heard the tale of your great-aunt Arya's knight?"

Prue's little face scrunched as she thought about it. "Arya the Fierce, first female ruler of Winterfell?"

"The one who vowed to never marry?" Allister said from the floor where he was playing with the dog. He looked skeptical, which made Old Nan laugh.

"Aye, that's where all the trouble started," she began.

Arya was fuming. Somehow in the middle of the night an army had slipped close to the castle in Riverrun. Her castle. The dawn had broken and as the sunlight fell on the host lay out before her, Arya had cursed so furiously that her steward had winced and he was used to Arya.

She squinted now, trying to make out who would have the audacity to attack her stronghold. It was supposed to be peace time. Her efforts were futile though, they flew no banners and there were no distinguishing colors. All she saw was a muddle of browns and grays.

"Who are they?" She asked her captain of the guard. He just shrugged, making her want to pummel him in his large florid face for the third time that morning. The first had been when he'd awakened her to tell her they were under siege. "We were unable to determine that, my lady."

But it turned out that she did not have long to wait. As she discussed battle plans with her captain and the others, a messenger arrived.

Arya took the scroll from the young man. She was scowling when she started reading and her look became darker as she looked up. "They ask that I have a champion fight their champion for right of the castle or they'll wage war on us."

"Who are they," her captain asked the messenger and he just shrugged sheepishly, which made Arya's teeth grind together.

The lord was sitting in his pavilion drinking a flagon of ale when the messenger returned.

"What did she say?" He asked coolly.

"She's sending her own messenger to discuss terms."

The lord stood and turned to his squire. "Better put my armor on."

The squire, as usual, looked confused. "Why would my lord need armor if the lady is just sending someone to parley?"

"She's not. If I know her, she'll come down here as fierce as a wolf protecting her pups."

"I hardly think a lady of her station..." the messenger began, and the lord cut him off with a look. "You don't know Arya."

The lord and his men stared silently as a retinue of twenty knights rode toward them on war horses; the standard bearing the direwolf of Winterfell snapping over their heads as their armor glinted in the morning sun.

The lead horse broke into a gallop leaving the rest of the company behind. The person sitting the horse was petite, and long hair streamed behind her as she rode. A young woman, her wolf-head helm tucked neatly under her arm dismounted a few feet from where they stood. With cold grey eyes she surveyed the men until her eyes landed on the lord.

"You," she snarled stalking forward.

He smiled at her and this prompted her to shove her helm down over her head and unsheathe her sword. The lord had just enough time to put on his own helm and lift his shield before she was on him.

His shield shook as she hit it and hit it and hit it. He moved to the left trying to evade her blows and this made him lose his grip on the shield, which went rolling away. She swung and he parried, laughing at her fury.

"See what you made me do," He shouted at her and she stopped swinging just long enough to grunt "What?" at him.

"You wouldn't answer my ravens. What was I supposed to do?" With a deft move she swatted his sword away and hit him in the breastplate with the flat of her sword, making a dull thud noise as the metals collided.

"Ah yes, invading my land and scaring my people... sounds like a brilliant plan," she said sarcastically.

"Got your attention didn't it?" She slashed down on his arm, but he was covered in mail and it only hurt a little.

"You left me and now you want to take what is mine," She said her voice raw with emotion.

"No," he said and she could see how wounded he was by her words; the pain streaked across his eyes.

She swung her sword at him, wanting to erase the hurt. She'd rather he was angry with her because it made it so much easier for her to continue being angry with him.

He had moved too slowly and Arya's sword cut under his armor and into where the mail met on his left side.

The lord fell; surprise on his face as if he'd never expected her to actually hurt him. It was his eyes that scared Arya at that moment.

"Gendry", she cried dropping her sword as if she'd been burned by it. She moved to his side quickly, rolling him so she could look at where she'd wounded him.

"You're still no lady," He said jokingly. She ran her fingers over the ragged cut and he winced. "Shut up, stupid."

As the knights looked on, Arya removed his helm and settle onto the ground with his head in her lap.

"You're so stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid."

"I'm glad you still remember me," Gendry joked, but there was pain in his eyes and she knew he was trying to put on a brave face for her.

"Someone send for my maester," Arya ordered noticing the knights milling around them for the first time. Two knights gently lifted Gendry and a third took off in the direction of the castle. They moved him to his pavilion and laid him on a cot. Arya had wanted to take him into the castle, but realized it was better not to move him so far.

It seemed like ages before her maester appeared, he was middle-aged and one of the wisest men Arya had ever met and when he swept into the room she felt infinitely better about Gendry not bleeding out. He stripped Gendry of his armor and his tunic, tut-tutting as he went.

Only once did he stop and turn to her to ask, "What happened?" Arya looked guiltily at her hands as she answered, "I play too rough." A shirtless Gendry guffawed behind the stricken maester, but he stopped quite quickly with a yelp of pain.

As the maester continued to work on Gendry, Arya stood forlornly to the side. Her shining armor was no longer clean. There was grass and mud on her knees where she had kneeled and Gendry's blood was across her front from when she'd helped maneuver him onto the cot.

She had cut him quite deeply and he was lucky she had not broken his rib the master said. He sewed the wound closed and spread a foul smelling paste over it before wrapping his side in bandages. Once he was done, Gendry sat up and slid his tunic back on, being careful not to touch his side.

Gendry hadn't lost too much blood, but he still seemed confused as Arya moved to his side once the maester had left saying that Gendry needed to rest.

"Are you going to say yes now?" He asked hopefully.

She gritted her teeth. He was so bull-headed! She almost admired him for it, but it infuriated her. "Are you serious?"

"Of course, I'm serious. I didn't get stabbed by you for a lark."

Arya didn't answer. She didn't know what the answer was and she wasn't ready to give him one. Gendry seemed to sense this so he didn't push her.

She pulled up a wooden chair to the side of the cot and his eyes widened, "What are you doing?"

"I haven't seen you in three years, Lord Gendry. Surely you've been doing something interesting in that time and I want to hear about it."

He grinned and lay back on the cot. "My life has been relatively boring up until this morning when a lady knight tried to end my life." He said looking at Arya for her reaction.

Somehow she knew that he was going to tease her about cutting him for a good long time. She sighed.

"That must be why you have become so slow."

"Gods I've missed you." He said and she swallowed the lump that immediately formed in her throat. "I missed you too." She said in a small voice. "I was being serious. What have you been doing in the last three years?"

"Well I road with the Brothers for a time. A knight with not much of a mission. I kind of lost myself when we heard what happened at the Twins and the rumors of you marrying Bolton," Gendry admitted.

"Is that why you became a lord?"

"No, that was after."

"I became a lord by helping Tommen rebuild some of the Kings Landing and re-forging some things of his." Arya knew he was being humble by the way he mumbled the words to make them seem less important. "And I became a lord so that I would be worthy."

There it was again, the uncomfortable truth between them. It made Arya feel warm and not in a good way.

"That reminds me," Gendry said; moving off the cot, but not without a huge groan. He went to a chest and opened it using the arm on his un-injured side and retrieved something from inside. "I brought you something."

Gendry laid something heavy and wrapped in a length of cloth on Arya's lap. "If you were another lord I'd know that this is a gown," she quipped as she unraveled the fabric.

As she pulled the last fold free she sat there dumbfounded as the light from outside made the object in her lap sparkle. It was Ice. Her father's sword that had been taken, and last she heard, made into two swords. But there is was; whole and sitting in her lap like a fine jewel. Her eyes misted over and she hugged the sword to her chest, it clinked faintly against her breastplate.

"Thank you," she said and he just nodded. He'd never understand what he'd given her and she didn't think she could explain either.

Arya had fallen into a routine. Every morning she awoke, made sure everything was taken care if in the castle and then she rode her horse Winter down the grass field to spend her day near Gendry. They had once spent every day together in the Riverlands and now she wanted to hear everything he'd done. For once though, she felt safe telling him what she had been doing. Although Gendry's eyes had widened as she told him about the house of White and Black he hadn't treated her any differently. It probably helped that he had laid beside her many a night, listening to the names of the people she wanted to kill. Her own bedtime prayer.

That morning as Arya strode into Gendry's tent her eyebrows furrowed in worry. It had been six days and Gendry should have been getting better, but he seemed to be getting worse. He was sleeping, but his brow shone with sweat and he had a sickly pallor to his skin.

Despite that, when he awoke he smiled at Arya. "Good morning, mi 'lady'. "Good morning, mi 'lord," Arya teased and he sat up wincing as he brushed his side with his arm.

"How does it feel?" She asked this every day and she always got the same answer, "Like I've been run through by a small assassin." As he looked sicker and sicker the comment stung a little more.

"I fully blame you," She said settling on the chair beside his bed, her legs folded under her neatly. Besides some of the darker parts of their pasts, they had kept their conversations light and Gendry hadn't brought up why he was there, but Arya knew it was only a matter of time and unluckily for her it was as if he read her mind.

"Why did you ignore my letters?" He asked, his tone was neutral but Arya could see in his face how much it bothered him.

She sighed and stood up. She felt more comfortable moving if she was going to have to face this and she also didn't want to look on his face anymore, not when it tortured her. She stared out the tent flap for a moment, trying to find the best way to communicate what had happened.

"I didn't know what to tell you."

"It killed me. I thought you were dead so many times and then you weren't..." His voice trailed off as it cracked and Arya sighed. She wished it could just always be easy between them. None of this hurt and disappointment and difficulty.

"I received similar offers from the Redwynes, Dorne, the Tyrells... and Edric Dayne." Even as she said it she closed her eyes knowing how the last name would hit Gendry. She turned to see his face darken.

"I understand. What could a base born bastard from Flea Bottom give you?" He said coldly.

His words felt like a slap, but she forged on. "I'm only going to talk about this once with you. So let me tell it without you being stupid about it."

"As you say, mi 'lady." He was scowling not liking the rebuke and it made her voice go up when she answered as she lost her temper. "You are not too wounded for me to punch you," she warned.

"I had been in the North for a few months. Finding out who was still alive, refuting all the rumors that I had died or been wed to Ramsay Bolton. I had all the power of the North around me, but no family. They were scattered to the wind, what was left."

She moved across the room and sat by Gendry again. She looked at her hands as she talked, feeling all the emotions she had felt then clawing through her chest. "I had been trained to be no one, but I wasn't no one. I was Arya Stark of Winterfell and they expected so much of me. At first it was overwhelming, but as time went on it became empowering. If my father had lived, I'd have been sold off to the highest bidder to be some old lord's wife, but I had my own forces and they valued my opinion, something I had not expected at all. They were starved for leadership, even if it came from a small girl with a wolf.

I took back the North. Piece by piece, castle by castle. It was hard work and I lost more men than I ever wanted to, but I made her whole again. The only thing I couldn't do was rebuild Winterfell and still hold the North, so I took my uncle's castle, which wasn't too damaged and made it my stronghold.

And then the offers came. Everyone in Westeros had taken note that I held a lot of land and power and they all wanted it for themselves. I had just allowed myself some time to finally grieve for my family and I was being harassed by offers for my hand that didn't give a damn about what I wanted at all. Unfortunately, I received your letter among all the others and I was so angry at you."

She swallowed hard, allowing herself to look up at Gendry for a second. He didn't look sullen anymore, he was just listening to her now his face blank.

"You were the one person I had trusted and the person who had turned their back on me. And suddenly when I had it all you wanted a piece. At least that's what I told myself. Old habits die hard. I started saying your name before I fell asleep. My prayer for revenge."

Her voice had been strong, but there were tears in her eyes and Gendry reached out to take her hand in his. That's all it took for the tears to brim over her eyelids and down her cheeks. Gendry leaned as much as he could towards her; stroking her hand and whispering endearments. "Don't cry, sweetling. I'm so so sorry, Arya."

He let her cry herself out and then she sniffed and wiped her eyes on the back of her hand that wasn't being held. "I will never leave you again."

She snorted and said, "Lucky me." It broke the spell and they spent the rest of the day talking about what Arya wanted to do with her lands and lords.

The next day, Arya had to shake Gendry awake and even then his eyes were glazed. She walked to the entrance to the tent where Gendry's guards stood at attention. "Bring the maester," She told them and one of the younger knights took off towards the castle.

In the end, they had decided to move him into the castle. Arya had a room made up for him and she had helped sponge him down with cool water, but still his skin felt like the forge he used to work in. The maester told Arya infection had set in.

Arya was racked with guilt, as she sat by Gendry's bedside. He wasn't conscious she thought, but she had his big hand cupped in her small ones. If he died she would never forgive herself.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered sorrowfully.

"I know," Gendry rasped.

She pressed his fingers to her cool lips and his brow furrowed even though he kept his eyes closed.

Later as the fever seemed to break, he awoke to find Arya half slumped on his bed, when he tried to pull his arm out from under her she bolted awake, looking around widely.

"Water, please," he croaked.

Arya hurriedly went to the side board and scooped some water from the basin there into a tin cup. She gently held it to Gendry's lips making sure not to spill it all over him.

He drank the entire cup and she rushed to get him more. Once he'd finished the second round of water, he put his hand on her arm holding her in place.

"Marry me," he said and her eyes narrowed into a glare, that actually made him smile.

"You stubborn ass." She said, but she didn't pull away from him and he pulled her closer.

"Arya," he said his deep voice made her close her eyes as a chill went down her spine.

"Are you dying on purpose to force me to say yes?"

"All part of the plan," Gendry said with a weak smile.


	2. Chapter 2

"You have to promise me something," Arya said as she and Gendry broke their fast. It had been three days since Gendry's fever had broken and the maester had said he was truly on the mend now, but this was the first time he'd been allowed to eat in the hall with the others.

Gendry looked up from the eggs he had been devouring. Since he'd been feeling better he couldn't get enough food and Arya was reminded of their time on the road to Harrenhal.

"What's that?" He asked dread settling in his stomach.

They hadn't talked about his proposal after Arya had pretty much laughed in his face, kissed him on the forehead and left. He took the kiss as a sign that she was trying not to outright reject him, but he still felt pretty rejected.

"If... and I'm not saying yes... if we were to marry, what would you do with my lands?"

He couldn't help but smile. She was so Arya, distrustful of anything good. "What do you mean what would I do? They're your lands."

"Not if we're married," She countered.

"I don't want them. I have my own lands, My Lady. Tommen gave me lordship of Storm's End and really, if I'm honest with you, I could use your help managing it." Arya seemed very skeptical.

"I'm serious," Gendry offered. "You grew up being a lady. Being a lord is new to me and a lot more difficult than I knew."

"My mother despaired of me ever being able to run a household. Odd that being a Faceless Man taught me what it takes, among other things," she said lightly. She hadn't told him much about her time in the House of Black and White and he hadn't pushed her as his gut told him he didn't really want to know.

"What am I to promise?" Gendry asked when she lulled into silence and didn't seem to be getting to the point.

"I guess it's a moot point, since you don't want my lands," she said with a sly smile.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence then. Though out of the corner of his eye, Gendry could see she was only picking at her food. She seemed to be in a thoughtful mood and he wanted more than anything to know what was on her mind.

"I miss them so much," she finally said. Gendry's first thought was of her mother, father and brother, whom he knew were dead, but she went on, "I wonder what Rickon even looks like. He was barely talking when I left. I've only heard whispers that he's even still alive. And Bran. At first that idiot Theon Turncloak made everyone think that he'd killed them. My mother probably died thinking that they were lost to her. I wrung the truth out of him before I executed him though. My brothers are alive, but no one knows where they are."

Gendry's heart skipped a beat when she said she'd executed Theon. He shouldn't have been surprised, it was just the way she said it, as if it was nothing. He knew it was stupid. He'd been with Arya when she'd slit the throat of the guard at Harrenhal and she'd been a little girl at the time. He knew what she was capable of.

His eyebrows came together as he thought about what she had said. He knew how much Arya loved her brothers and this might be his chance.

"I'll help you find them..." he offered and she looked surprised, "... if you seriously consider becoming my lady."

Despite herself, Arya smiled. "If you help me bring my family back to together, I promise to consider it."

Gendry's heart soared as his face broke into a silly grin.

"I'm just sorry I hurt you. Your wound will delay us from leaving," Arya lamented.

"Oh, so that's the only reason you're sorry about it?" He said sarcastically and she glared.

"Someday you'll find this funny,' Gendry promised.

"I'll never stop feeling guilty," she admitted looking down into her pewter goblet like it held answers.

"I should probably know better than to provoke you. You definitely gave me a reminder," Gendry said lightly. He hated seeing her sad.

"Is it a lesson that will prevent you from being a pain in the ass?" She asked a wicked smile curving her mouth, even though she was still looking at her ale.

"Absolutely not."


	3. Chapter 3

Gendry's wound held them at Riverun for four weeks. During that time, Arya gathered as much information as she could on where her brothers were rumored to be. She knew that the talk could be completely false, but it was a shot in the dark she was willing to take.

She'd agreed with Gendry that they'd seek out Rickon first. The last anyone had heard of him, he'd been on Skagos, which was geographically closer to them than beyond the Wall, where it was said Bran was. It had been one of the few things they'd been able to see eye to eye on.

They had argued heatedly about how many men to take with them. Gendry wanted a proper guard of three hundred men, but Arya wanted to move quickly and said twenty. In the end they'd compromised on fifty, after Arya had said she'd go with just him, appealing to the part of Gendry that couldn't tell her no, even when he really wanted to.

The day had arrived when Arya and Gendry would leave for Skagos. They'd handpicked the men coming with them, some from Gendry's banners, some from Arya's. The day before the rest of Gendry's forces had left, heading back to their lands.

In a way, Arya was surprised he'd been able to call his bannermen to march against her in the first place, until she'd seen him admist his men. They loved him.

"He's the finest man in Westeros," his captain had told her, before relaying a story about how Gendry had saved his daughter and wife from raiders. Every man Arya came in contact with had a similar story, although none as spectacular as Dunstin, Gendry's squire.

The boy had nearly been hanged for poaching a deer on Clegan's land. He had the noose around his neck and everything when Gendry and a handful of his men ambushed the Lannister banners. Dunstin still almost hung when the horse they'd sat him on spooked and took off. Gendry had cut the rope with an ax he'd taken off some big brute, dropping the boy and winning his eternal loyalty.

Arya had found herself staring at Gendry after she'd heard Dunstin's tale. What happened to the blacksmith who just wanted to keep his head down? Gendry caught her staring and smiled though he looked puzzled.

Arya felt thoughtful as they broke their fast at dawn and hadn't said much to the present company.

"Are you well," Gendry asked, bumping her elbow.

As if coming out of a trance she shook herself and looked blankly at him for a moment.

"Being a lord suits you." She said making Gendry's confusion grow. "I... what?"

"When I met you, I would have never believed you would lead a force of men to lay siege to my stronghold."

"You didn't think me capable, my lady?" He asked, and there was coolness to his voice that Arya noted. She'd offended him and she hadn't meant to.

"No. That's not it." She rushed on to explain, "At Harrenhal you wanted to stay and keep your head down. You didn't want to follow me out the gates. You were happy to just have a forge. That boy would have never become a lord."

"Oh," Gendry said understanding dawning in his expression. "Does that bother my lady?"

"Stop being formal with me." She huffed. He could almost here the implied 'Stupid' at the end of her sentence. "It doesn't bother me. It's just different."

"Good different? Bad different?"

"Good different," Arya said with a wicked smirk on her face, "I don't have to worry about taking care of you."

"All for the best. I mean look how you parleyed with me," Gendry said pointing at his side, where Arya knew there was still a nasty scar from when she'd cut him.

"When are you going to let it go," She whined and he smiled, "Never. I will always remind you that I took a sword to be close to you. We can just pretend the sword wasn't also wielded by you." She shoved him and he laughed.

Arya tried to keep her scowl but Gendry's smile was infectious and she returned it before looking away.

Arya took the reins from her young squire, Bayard. He gave her leg a not so gentle slap and she smirked at him. She'd picked him to be her squire mostly because he was too cunning not to be kept within sight. His poor mother had despaired of what to do with her wicked son until Arya had said she'd take him on.

She'd felt the anticipation of leaving gnawing at her stomach the whole morning and now that she was ahorse she was ready to take her freedom. She waited though, her horse dancing beneath her in its own excitement as Gendry got on his big black destrier.

Once everyone was mounted, they moved off through the gates and down the road. Even with only fifty men, the general company was plodding and slow. They'd had to bring two supply wagons, which Arya had balked at, for the exact reason that it would take longer. Now, Arya huffed in frustration, as her horse gave a whiney asking to be let go.

Gendry pulled his horse over to her side. "What's wrong, My Lady?" He asked, perfectly peaceful in the saddle now. Arya remembered when they'd ridden together before. He was no horsemen then, but it looked like he'd gotten better.

Arya didn't feel like answering, instead she let out a whooping war cry and let her horse have her head. The small fleet mare took to her heels, nearly flying down the road; dirt spraying up from her pounding hooves. Arya felt wonderful release as they rocketed forward. To look at them, horse and rider were one.

Arya's joy lasted for a couple miles and then she slowed. Somehow she'd expected Gendry to try to follow her, he almost always had before. But she saw him way off in the distance, riding at the head of their guard. She let her horse wander back and forth across the road, picking at the wayward grass, while the company slowly advanced towards them.

"Why didn't you follow me?"She asked petulantly, once Gendry neared her.

"Thought you wanted to be free of us," Gendry said sounding confused.

She shrugged. "You've gotten better at riding," she said, pointing to the easy way Gendry sat in the saddle, the reins in one hand as his horse picked it's way over the gravel.

"I've acquired a lot of skills while you were away," he said slyly.

"What pray-tell were they?"

"Swordplay, riding, dancing, courtly manners, kissing fair ladies," He said and Arya laughed.

"That's quite a list, My Lord. You'll have to show me." Her cheeks turned pink, as she realized what she'd said, but she didn't take it back.

"Is your water dancing a match for real dancing?" He teased.

"You just make sure those big feet don't step on mine," she quipped.

"Do not worry, My Lady, no one has died yet." At that moment, Arya's head of guard, rode up to the two, who had gotten ahead of the rest of the band.

"My lord. My lady," he said nodding his head as if bowing. "I'd like to take the first scouts out. We'll want to make sure nothing unpleasant is in our way."

Arya turned to him and she smiled. "You don't have to be formal with me, Audric. You've been in my company for far too long for that. I agree. Send the scouts. I don't want to take any chances. Four men should be sufficient. Oh and make sure Bayard doesn't try to sneak off with them."

Audric laughed. "That boy is trouble, Arya. I told you from the start."

"But he is usefully wicked," Arya agreed touching Audrics arm in passing.

Gendry didn't like it. Especially when Audric whispered something to Arya and she giggled like a small girl, a sound he'd never heard from her before. He sized up the other man. He knew he was only a knight, but so had Gendry been.

Audric looked to be a few years older than Arya and he had reddish brown hair that curled at the ends just above his neck. It made him look younger than he was. His too-light blue eyes flashed once at Gendry before he road away.

"Don't let Maude know that!" Arya said to Audric's back as he road off.

Gendry wanted to be put out, but Arya rode closer to him reached out to touch the hilt of his sword, brushing her hand over his. "Did you forge this?"

"Aye. Afore I rode off to Kings Landing."

"What's Tommen like now? I only knew him as a chubby little boy."

"He's kindly and much smarter than anyone gives him credit for. I was surprised when I met him. He's still a little chubby though."

"You do realize that if we were to marry, we would control a large portion of Westeros. Did you tell Tommen of your plans? I can't imagine he would like that."

Gendry's cheeks reddened. Aryra knew immediately that he had told Tommen and she had a feeling he'd been a moony sot about it. "I might have mentioned it."

"What did he say?" She was truly curious. She'd lived too long with the "kill or be killed mentality" of Westeros. She couldn't understand Tommen not feeling threatened or wanting to crush any opposition, even imagined position.

"He trusts my judgement and knows I would never try to take his throne." Gendry said and Arya frowned.

"How could he know that?"

"Because I didn't when I could have. I don't want to rule Westeros."

"Why would you rule Westeros?" He heard the incredulity in her tone.

"My father was King Robert Baratheon. When I said Tommen gave me Storm's End, he really just restored to me my family's lands." He explained.

Arya's eyebrows disappeared under her hair, as her eyes widened. She hadn't known. This whole time and he hadn't thought that was important.

"When did you find out? How?" She choked out.

"That's a lot of questions, My Lady," he began. " I found out a while after you left. Tommen knew, I don't know how, but when I made it to King's Landing he asked if I was there to take the Iron Throne. I laughed at him. 'No, Your Grace. I planned to help you keep it.' I told him. I'm sure he didn't really believe me. Not until I helped bring peace to Kings Landing and helped with the small folk. Afterwards, he again asked me if I wanted to be king and I told him I wanted to retire to my own lands and find my lost lady.

That's when he gave me Storm's End, legitimized my name making me a lord and wished me luck. I'm assuming he hoped my loyalty would help bring you back into an alliance with him."

Gendry had expected her to not take that well. He knew how much love Arya had for the Lannisters but he saw her shrugging. "You're not angry?"

"Tommen was a child when the Lannisters ruined my family. He didn't have anything to do with it and I am so tired of bloodshed. Sometimes I feel as if I've lived a hundred years and then I have to remember it's only been nine and ten."

"My Lady, speaks as if she knows my mind."

Her eyes snapped to his. "Gendry, someday I will tell you all and you'll know."

She moved off then, moving down the line of men to talk to some of her guard. Gendry sighed, there was a wall between them that he resented. It used to be so easy between them, but then again they'd been living through the same horrors.

They traveled two leagues before Arya finally decided they could make she lightly hopped off her horse, Bayard hurried forward to take the reins.

"Make sure to rub her down," Arya called to him as he led the horse off.

The squire turned and insolently said, "When have I not?" He stuck his tongue out at her and hurried off with the horse in tow.

Gendry's eyebrows had raised in surprise. "Shut your mouth, Bayard, or I won't continue teaching you to throw daggers," Arya shouted at his retreating back.

"He's a handful," Gendry commented as Dunstin quietly lead his own horse away to feed and water it.

"He's like me as a child you mean?" Arya said ruefully.

Gednry had forgotten how blunt she could be and sometimes it stung, but he far preferred it to the lying words of the ladies he had become used to dealing with. He called it doublespeak; saying something and meaning something else. Tommen had said he would get used to it, but he never had.

"Aye, you were a wilding," he said. earning a smile.

"You poor thing. Saddled with a fat cook and a wild girl. How did you survive til now?" She teased, falling into the happy mood she often found herself drifting into when she spoke to Gendry.

"Just barely."

"Ain't that the truth of it," Arya laughed as they walked to the fire that one of the men had started.

It had become routine for Gendry, to have others do some of the labor, but Arya looked uncomfortable as he men rushed to put up her sleeping tent and she was handed a wooden trencher with salted beef on it. Arya was a doer, he knew, so being waited on drove her crazy. He, on the other hand, highly enjoyed not having to cook his own food, because he was not good at it.

They didn't talk as they ate. The woods seemed eerily quiet and grey clouds had moved in above them.

"It's going to rain," Arya said.

"Thank the gods for a waterskin tent," he said, glancing towards where his tent had been set up next to what appeared to be a pile of leaves. "Is that your tent?"

"Aye. I sewed it myself," she admitted, her cheeks turning pink.

Now Gendry looked dubious. "You sewed it?"

"Don't look too surprised. When I arrived from Braavos they didn't believe I was Arya Stark at first. What with the impostor in Winterfell and such. They held me as a captive for a few weeks while they tried to locate someone to vouch for me. I had a lot of time so I made that tent. Just don't look too closely at the stitching. They aren't pretty, but they work."

Gendry couldn't imagine this Arya being captive, but he guessed she'd had no choice if she wanted to be recognized as herself.

"Why's it look like leaves?"

She smiled brightly, clearly proud of her own ingenuity. "It's to hide among the greens. See how it hardly looks like a tent is there? Jon sent me a letter when he was on the wall about the wildling clothes. They make them so they can blend into the rock and snow. So I tried it with my tent. I even made a cover for it when we go North."

"You really are clever."

"Thank you. It's also has a raised platform inside. I built that as well."

"Why?"

"So that I'm not walking through puddles when it rains."

He looked at his own tent as the first fat drops of rain landed on his head. "I should have had you make me a tent."

"You'll be find, My Lord," she said with a mischievous smile. She slowly stood, handing the trencher to the man that had been waiting behind them to clear away the dishes.

"Sleep well, Gendry," she said before marching off to her tent.

Gendry was grateful that she had worn soft deerskin breeches instead of the grey gown he'd seen her in many times in Riverun. The breeches showed off her lithe muscular legs and if he was honest her rounded rounded rump as well. He'd never stopped wishing for her back and now that she was near the feelings he had were almost overwhelming. It was like he'd been starving in the Red Waste. All he wanted to do was drink her in.

When the thunder started, so did the howling. Gendry had grown used to the sound; there were wolves all over the Riverlands and the North. He rolled over restlessly in his furs and drifted back to sleep. Shortly after, he was awoken by a small cold hand on his arm. He grasped the wrist tightly, twisting it to try and break the grip as instinct took over while his sleep addled head tried to catch up.

"Ow," he heard Arya huff as she tried pulling her arm way.

Confused, but more awake, Gendry released her wrist. "What are you doing?" He whispered. Dunstin slept in his tent on the other side of a heavy wooden screen and Gendry didn't want the squire to know a woman was in his tent. Gendry felt his pulse racing and it was just from being awakened so suddenly.

He couldn't see her face, just her form as she perched on the side of his cot. "I can't sleep," she said quietly with an edge to her voice. It made Gendry realize she was scared. Her voice always got tight when she was younger when she'd seen people being tortured in Harrenhal.

"I had a nightmare about when I was blind." Gendry felt lost. 'When she had been blind? What in the seven hells-' he thought. But he didn't say anything, instead he lifted his furs to let her in.

She immediately burrowed into his side, warming him in a way the furs hadn't.

"Tell me about your nightmare," he murmured into her hair, wide awake now that she was there.

"I angered the Faceless Men by taking a life that wasn't mine to take. They punished me by taking my sight."

Gendry was taken aback, but he continued to quietly listen to her whispered story.

"I dreamed I was back in a brother and I couldn't see who was touching me." Gendry shuddered and Arya squeezed him tighter.

"I didn't whore in the brothel, but I did gather whispers there for the Faceless Men. No one ever touched me, but there were some near misses.

"I can't imagine," he said into her ear.

"Then don't. It's my own sorrow. But it was the wolves that drove me here."

"The wolves? But you're a wolf girl."

"Except I don't have a wolf anymore. I don't like when they're agitated. It puts me on edge and makes me worry about Bran and Rickon."

That made no sense to Gendry and he came close to calling her My Lady then, but caught himself. He couldn't do that when it was just the two of them; her wrapped in his arms whispering her darkest secrets.

"Arya, we'll find them. I promise," he said in a gruff whisper. "Close your eyes. You're safe with me."

She never did what he said, but for this one time, she threw her leg over his and ducked her head so that her face was nestled into his chest. Gendry thought he'd lie away, mulling over what Arya had told him, but as soon as Arya's breathing slowed, he felt his eyelids droop. 'It felt so peaceful to just be there with her', was his last thought has sleep overtook him.


	4. Chapter 4

It started out as a jape. They'd stopped to water the horses and Gendry had wandered down stream from the others. As his horse drank he relaxed and let the exhaustion from riding all day roll from his shoulders. He was slouching next to his horse, staring into the water when he got hit from behind.

Something had jumped on his back and without thinking, Gendry ducked down and levered the person over his head and into the stream.

Arya came up sputtering and Gendry broke into a fit of laughter at her dripping hair and startled face. She waded out of the water, wiping her eyes and when she made shore she launched herself at Gendry knocking him over.

He was still laughing as he wrestled with her in the grass. He was briefly reminded of the incident in the forge at Acorn Hall.

Arya was slippery and hard to hold onto, but Gendry finally managed to pin her and that's how Audric found them; Arya laying in the grass, while Gendry lay over with his big hands holding her wrists above her head. The pair was giggling at each other and clearly hadn't heard Audric's footsteps.

Audric cleared his throat and Gendry stood up quickly, leaving Arya sprawled out on the ground. She leisurely got up as well, dusting herself off the best she could. Audric colored as he stared at Arya and Gendry realized, with a glance, that her wet linen shirt was nearly transparent. Gendry stepped in front of her to shield her from Audric's eyes.

"What do you want," He snapped. He didn't like the man, mostly because he was looking at Arya like he would devour her.

"Gendry," Arya admonished.

"My lady, the men want to know whether you want to ford the Red Fork now or continue on."

"I'll be there in a moment," Arya said though she was giving Gendry a weird look behind his back, as if she couldn't figure something out.

Audric gave Arya one last appraising look over Gendry's shoulder and left.

Gendry huffed and went to his horse, Coal, who had thankfully not run off, but was pulling up weeds near at hand. He pulled his heavy wool cloak from the saddle and wrapped it around Arya's shoulders. She looked up at him through her wet hair with her eyebrows raised.

"I'm not yours," she said bluntly, clearly being reminded of the custom of a lord bringing his lady under his cloak during the wedding ceremony.

"You're also bloody near-naked in those wet clothes," He said gruffly. "You're luck we're not in the North yet. You'd freeze to death."

Younger Arya would have been embarrassed, but this Arya lifted her chin higher. "Would not!" She said peevishly and she gave him a dirty look before stomping off to her horse.

Arya was restless with their slow relentless pace. They'd been on the road for two weeks, but she couldn't help feeling they'd be halfway there by now if only it had been just her and Gendry as she had wanted.

Wanting something to do, she turned to Gendry and said, "Race you to the top of the next hill."

Gendry looked at her out of the corner of his eye and smirked. "What are the stakes, my lady?"

"Don't call me that," she demanded. He ignored her, as he knew it riled her up.

"If I win, you stop calling me "My lady" or 'Milady or any other proper form of address."

'What if I win?"

"You can choose your prize."

"Very well. If I win, I want a kiss."

Arya's cheeks reddened at his boldness. Giving kisses to a lord she was not betrothed to was unladylike so it shouldn't have bothered her but even though she agreed, it made her insides feel squirmy.

Gendry seemed to enjoy her discomfort, only because he knew she was awkward when it came to dealing with feelings.

"Ready? Set... go!" Ayra cried, spurring her horse into a gallop.

Gendry followed. His horse, was heavily muscled and used to running long distances, but Arya's mare, whom she'd named Lightening, was light and fast; sailing over the dirt road as if she didn't even touch it.

Gendry gritted his teeth as he watched Arya become smaller and smaller; thinking the contest lost but then he saw the mare slowing. Arya had misjudged the distance and her horse couldn't sprint for much longer.

Gendry heard her cursing as his mount ran past, but he waited until they crested the hill before giving out a whoop of victory.

A dozen birds took off from the trees and as Arya reached him, he could see annoyance at having lost on her face, but her hands jingled nervously at the reins as she anticipated giving him his prize.

Gendry was all smiles as he rode closer to her, but as he neared, Arya's horse gave a frightened whiny and tensed as if to run again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a giant grey shape run across the path and back into the trees. By the time he turned his head it was gone, but he saw movement in the forest and three tawny wolves stepped out onto the road. This sent both horses into a panic and Gendry sensed, rather than saw the wolves mover closer.

In horror, Gendry watched as Arya's horse tried to bolt, hopping sideways and lost its footing in the slippery shoal and went down hard throwing Arya from the saddle.

She tried tucking herself to roll out of the fall, but her right arm went down first, getting twisted painfully by the rocks. She made one squeal of pain and then laid silently on the ground as if in shock.

Gendry wanted to leap from his horse and go to her side but his own mount was wheeling in fear, ignoring Gendry completely and making it hard for him to gather himself to leap to either side.

The wolves held back, not touching Arya, as she slowly raised herself and crouched in front of them with her dagger held at an awkward angle.

A giant wolf, slowly stalked out of the trees at that moment, scattering the smaller wolves in its wake. It towered over Arya, and Gendry could see it was almost the same height as Lightening. Having had enough of Coal's wheeling, Gendry finally was able to stop him long enough so he could leap down with a curse. Coal whirled and bolted through the trees. Gendry knew the horse would make for the company behind them, and was thankful none of the wolves seemed interested in pursuing the scared beast.

Gendry drew his hammer from his belt as he moved towards Arya; making sure to place himself between her and the monster.

"Gendry, no!" Arya cried. She had risen behind him and she brushed past him to face the giant wolf. She moved slow and cautiously, with her hand raised and the wolf stared at her with its huge tawny eyes but didn't move.

As she neared the wolf gave a grumbling noise as if rebuking Arya, then it sniffed her palm.

Gendry watched in wonder as a pink tongue as big as a spade, snaked out of the wolf's mouth to run across Arya's fingers and then it put it's great head down to nuzzle knocked Arya over, but she laughed and kneeling, dug her hands into the wolf's fur and have its belly a scratch. "Nymeria," she breathed, moving to stroke the wolf's head and scratch behind its ears.

"What?" Gendry said. He couldn't form a full sentence for what he was seeing and he felt like his eyes might fall out of his head.

"Nymeria was my direwolf when she was a pup. I had to send her away to stop Joffrey from killing her," Arya explained. She'd turned to look at Gendry, but her hands continued to run over the wolf's side.

"You never told me you had a monster wolf as a pet."

"She's not a monster," Arya said sounding much like she had as a child.

"Well she scared the piss out of our horses and now you're hurt," Gendry said pointing to Arya's arm. She thought he wouldn't notice but she'd kept her right arm tucked to her side because it was throbbing.

"Come here," Gendry said, feeling wary of the wolf that had looked at him when he started speaking. Arya gave Nymeria a final pat and walked towards Gendry.

"It looks worse than it is," She said glancing down at her wrist. It was three times it's normal size and had already started to purple. Gendry gently grabbed her hand. "Can you move your fingers?" She squeezed his fingers lightly and cursed as the pain doubled.

"You've a dirty mouth, my lady."

"It will be even worse if you continue to call me that."

Hearing the sound of horses and men the wolves melted into the tree, all except Nymeria who moved closer to Arya, as if she was protecting her.

"Better do something about her. You don't want the other horses to bolt."

"Nymeria, go." Arya said and the direwolf stood and galloped into the trees.

"Is she gone for good?" Gendry asked. "No, she'll stay back from the horses like she's been taught, but she'll be coming with us North. She wants her litter mates."

"How do you know that?" He asked. Arya looked at him guiltily.

"I'll tell you later," She mumbled as the men came into view slowly climbing the hill.

Dunstin was near the front and he was pulling Coal along. The horse had calmed but a little and was tugging at the lead in the squire's hands. Lightening was tied to Audric's horse and she seemed unhurt except for a thin gash on her flank from her fall.

"Arya, what happened?" Bayard said as a he hurried up to Arya; his face white as a ghost.

"I fell," She said simply, holding her arm at an angle so as to not show the boy her swollen wrist.

"We found Lightening and she was a mess and I thought..." Bayard trailed off on his panicked rant.

"Some wolves spooked the horses."

"Wolves?"

Gendry watched Arya struggle to find the words to explain anything that had just happened and finally decided to help her.

"Arya has a direwolf as a pet and her wolf pack found us."

"It's a wonder you weren't killed," Dunstin said mildly. He'd come up behind them, his brown eyes as placid as ever, even though Arya looked a fright.

"Yes, lucky." Gendry said glancing at Arya, who bit her lip. "We should have brought your maester," he continued; addressing Arya alone.

"He's old and doesn't travel well," she argued.

"Even so." Gendry grabbed her good arm and led her down the hill where the Red Fork roared by. Usually she'd never have allowed him to lead her anywhere but she was in a lot of pain.

"Trust me, my healing skills are nothing to a maester's, but I did learn a few things in a pinch."

"I need something cold," Arya said dazedly as they neared the water.

Gendry stripped off his leather jerkin and then ripped long strips from the bottom of his tunic. Arya couldn't help laughing as she realized what he was doing.

"What are you sniggering at," he asked crossly.

"Who are you? You're like a knight in a song."

Gendry turned bright red and gaped at her, where she'd perched herself on a rock.

"Sure you didn't hit your head?"

"Positive." She sing-songed at him.

"Why am I like a knight in a song?"

"Well aren't you saving me? I seem to be a damsel in distress," Arya said pointing at her wrist.

Frustrated, Gendry growled at her,"Fix yer own damn wrist then, my lady." He tossed the strips of white linen at her feet and she thought he was going to stomp off to the other men, but instead he wheeled around as if angry at himself for losing his temper.

"I thought you wanted to save me? Aren't you here to sweep me off my feet and make me forget I've never wanted to marry a lord?"

"No," he bit out. "No?" She echoed and he shook his head as if stubbornly refusing to let go of whatever his unhappiness was with her.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I'm trying not to strangle you," Gendry said and she could see his fist were clenched as if he really physically was fighting the urge. This only amused her.

"What have I done?"

"You're... you're just..." He sputtered but he couldn't tell her that she knew the exact buttons to push to make him upset.

He stopped and took a deep breath. He felt there was no point telling her. She knew how to read people, she always had and he'd be damned if he'd tell her everything she'd probably already guessed. She knew his background and how he'd hated the highborns because of how they treated the smallfolk and she knew he'd forsaken that part of himself in order to pursue her.

Instead of strangling her, which did sound tempting, he picked up the linen he'd thrown at her feet and went to the river, ignoring her dark eyes that he knew followed his every move. He let his anger drift down the river as he got the linen wet in the cold water.

"Since we don't have ice or snow, this will have to do," He said as he placed the cold cloth to Arya's wrist. He carefully wrapped the strips around her wrist and staring at his work so he wouldn't have to look into her smug face. However, when he finally did glance up he saw that she looked guilty.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, so softly he almost missed it.

"I know," Gendry said, her wrist still cradled in his large hand.

"You going to claim your prize?" She asked nervously and he looked at her blankly.

"My what?"

"You asked for a kiss if you won."

He remembered then, the race and the terror of seeing her fall. He felt like he'd lived through too much that day, so he lifted Arya's injured hand and placed a warm kiss on her knuckles. "Arya," he breathed, and his breath ghosted over her fingers making them tingle. His eyes were locked to her and she felt warm all over.

Arya shook herself mentally. He had just kissed her hand, that was a courtesy she'd received a hundred times, but when Gendry did it it send a jolt of electricity down her spine. For a moment, she wondered if she would have lost her wits completely if he'd actually kissed her.


	5. Chapter 5

They'd rode on, as soon as Arya told them she was fine, very forcefully in fact, and she had remounted Lightning.

They made their usual slow progress through the rest of the day, stopping as twilight started to fall. Gendry had kept Arya close beside him throughout their ride, but as soon as they dismounted she disappeared. He saw her again a while later, with Bayard throwing daggers at a stump.

He kept his distance, not wanting to interrupt Arya when she was clearly getting frustrated with Bayard.

"Feel the balance and aim! Don't just flick it without a glance," He heard her yell at the squire and he couldn't help chuckling.

"Lord Gendry," a voice said behind him and he turned to find Audric.

The captain seemed to dislike Gendry and he assumed that it was because of Arya. Clearly, before he'd come Audric had been close to Arya, but now she spent most of her time with Gendry.

"Yes, Ser?"

"What are you doing here?"

"What?"

"Arya isn't going to marry you. You're the twelfth lord to try and she's repelled them all," The captain said smugly.

"Arya said she would consider my proposal," Gendry said.

"She'd said that to them all."

Gendry scowled at him, but said nothing.

"You are on a fool's errand, my lord. Once she gets her brothers back, she will dispose of you.

"She won't," Gendry growled and Audric threw his hands up in a show of submission.

"I'm just warning you, my lord. You seem a good man and I've seen what she does to men."

Gendry laughed bitterly. "She kills them," he said and Audric looked troubled at his clear disregard for what the captain had just told him. Gendry for his part, didn't like being told what to do.

"Suit yourself," the captain said and moved off.

Gendry didn't want to listen but the captain's words rang in his head for the rest of the day.

The crossing of the Red Fork was supposed to be uneventful, but then the barge they'd placed one of the wagons on hit an unseen rock and went tumbling into the water. Thankfully no one was hurt, but a large portion of their supplies were swept away.

Once they had re-grouped on the other side of the river, Arya took stock of what they still had and her mouth became a grim line.

Gendry wanted to talk to her, but every time he started to, she froze him out and moved away to be on her own. She was worried about what they would do with much of their food supplies gone and it made her incredibly crabby.

The only thing that had brightened her spirits was that Nymeria and her pack had come back. They kept their distance preferring to lurk in the trees around them but Arya flashed a small smile when she saw them in the trees.

Bayard followed her like a lost puppy as she went from wagon to wagon and discussed with the drivers what they held. Gendry determined not to do the same. Instead he began a conversation with his squire.

"Dunstin, do you think this is a fool's errand?"

"Surely, my lord. How will we ever get to Skagos with so little food." The squire said grimly.

"I meant me pursuing the lady Arya," Gendry said feeling embarrassed, but Dunstin was the closest man to him in this company.

"Not sure it's my place to speak on that, my lord," Dunstin said uncomfortably.

"I trust your opinion, Dunstin," Gendry prodded and the squire looked like he was pulling teeth but he answered.

"The lady seems untameable," he started carefully.

Gendry snorted. "I don't want to tame her. She'll always be this way. I just need to know if you think she cares for me?"

Dunstin nodded though his face remained solemn. "She's hard to read, my lord, but I'd bet my horse you're the only suitor that has stood a chance."

Gendry broke into a relieved smile. "I guess that's as good as it gets. Arya never wanted a lord husband. I'm just a big enough idiot to believe that I can change her mind. That I'm different from the others."

"You are different, my lord, but pardon me, a woman's heart is the one thing you can't win with wishing."

"You're wiser than me."

They both fell silent then as they'd both caught site of Arya striding towards them in a clipped way, that grim look still on her face.

"Gendry, may I speak with you... alone?" She asked when she reached them.

She was always such a commanding presence and Dunstin bowed and backed away immediately.

"He doesn't have to do that." Arya said with a scowl.

"You intimidate him," Gendry said with a shrug. Didn't she know what effect she had on most men? She could be damn scary, especially when she was mad.

"What did you want to speak to me about, Arya?" He could see by her mood that calling her 'my lady' would only earn him a kick to his shin.

"We lost a lot of food with that wagon."

"How bad is it?"

"Well most of our grain, gruel and flour is gone," she said dejectedly.

He didn't think about it, he just stepped forward and hugged her hard to his chest.

"What are you doing?" She asked in annoyance, her voice muffled as her face was pressed into his arm.

"Trying to make you feel better," Gendry said and she shoved him away.

"Stop it," she growled. "I have to figure out what we're going to do"

She talked away from him and he sighed. 'Definitely a big idiot', he thought.

The men and Arya convened in her tent after Arya had checked over their stores a third time.

"We have a barrel of apples. Two casks of wine. Three rounds of salted beef. A bundle of carrots. One sack of gruel and flour a piece. A block of butter and a small sack of sugar," she rattled off.

"We'll need more provisions before we reach the sea," Audric pointed out.

"A hunt should take care of that," said Gendry.

"We can leave camp now while its light," Arya said eagerly. Gendry turned and gave her a steady look. "But your wrist is still hurt," he said stubbornly.

Arya flushed with embarrassment. "I can still string a bow and I have my throwing knives," She said brusquely.

"You should let it heal before you go out assassinating stags."

"I thank you for your concern, My Lord," she said sarcastically.

"We leave as soon as you round up Martin and Karl," She said to Audric, preferring to ignore the annoyed looking Gendry to her right.

"I'm going with you," He demanded.

"Suit yourself, My Lord," Arya said equally bullheaded. Gendry shook his head. He hadn't missed the two times she'd called him 'My Lord', which he knew was her way of irking him.

Arya wouldn't give an inch though. The accident and Gendry's subsequent babying of her, rankled her sensibilities. Mostly because she caught the look Audric was giving her, like he wasn't sure if she was up to hunting either. She gritted her teeth as her captain left. As they also exited the tent, Gendry quietly asked "Are you taking the wolves?"

Arya contemplated that and as if in answer her wrist gave a particularly painful throb.

"No. Bayard can tend to them. Gods can only hope it keeps him out of trouble."

Gendry shook his head with a tight smile on his lips. "Not if he's anything like you."

Arya called for the wayward boy then and he came jogging up to them. It was clear he had been waiting not far off for them to be done with their meeting.

"Bayard, saddle my horse. I'll need my pack. Make sure my knives are packed tightly."

"Where are you going?"

Gendry had seen the boy sullen, mischievous and brooding, but now he seemed worried about Arya. Only then did he look like a child of eleven.

"We're going hunting," Arya said briskly.

"Arya, is that wise?" Bayard said in a surprisingly high voice. She rolled her eyes.

"Not you too! You're staying here to see to Nymeria and the other wolves, before you think about asking to go."

"You'll be careful? Bayard asked solemnly as he clutched her uninjured arm.

Gendry was surprised by the marked change in the boy. Gone was the wildling that he'd grown used to and Gendry could see he was genuinely concerned for Arya. He also seemed to have realized there was no talking Arya out of going.

"Stop giving me that look. My wrist is well enough and there won't be any more accidents," Arya snapped. She stopped to ruffle the lad's hair as if to remove the sting from her tone. She wouldn't be doing that for long, the lad would soon be able to look her in the eye.

"Protect her," Bayard said imploringly to Gendry; his eyes boring into Gendry fiercely.

"I will," Gendry promised, even though Arya was glaring. She huffed at the two of them and stalked off.

Gendry followed at a safe distance, motioning to his own squire to bring his horse. Bayard may have just started behaving himself, but Gendry had always been able to count on Dunstin.

They'd been riding through the woods as silently as possible when Arya signaled that she'd seen something off to her left. The men followed her quietly and they soon came upon the large rump of a great boar that was snuffling in the grass for roots.

Arya strung her bow carefully and took aim. Her shot would have been true, but the boar swung around to face them after her shot, clearing having heard or smelled them and her arrow sank deep into its shoulder.

She cursed loudly and Gendry watched her slide from her saddle with a large knife drawn. Audric, who had a wicked looking pike, slipped off his horse as well, following behind her like a shadow.

Seeing that Ayra aimed to take on the boar herself, Gendry scrambled down from Coal and tore after her. He reached her before she was within twenty yards of the boar which was grunting angrily in pain and fear.

Without warning it went to charge them its horns lowered and Gendry grabbed Ayra from behind; physically throwing her out of the way. The momentum pulled him from his feet as well and they went tumbling through the weeds. Once they stopped falling, Gendry heard Audric's triumphant cry.

Gendry sat up and saw that the captain of Ayra's guard had speared the board through its heart. It gave one last pathetic wuffle and fell down dead at his feet.

Arya, who had landed near Gendry, got to her feet and he could see from her face and tight shoulders that she was livid. He stood as well, ready to apologize but she shoved his shoulder roughly as she walked past and wouldn't look at him.

She went over to Audric instead. "Well done," she said and Audric beamed at her. "Thank you, my lady."

"I'll help you butcher it so we can return as soon as possible with the meat," Arya said rolling up her sleeves.

"Will that not bother my lady's wrist?" Audric asked carefully and Arya flushed with annoyance.

Behind her, Gendry lifted the boar easily for Karl to slip a rope around its hind legs. "It's fine, my lady. I can manage it," he called to her and it was the wrong thing to say.

Arya moved forward and slit the animal's throat with one quick motion, all the while looking Gendry directly in the eye as if it was him she was bleeding out.

"I am more than capable of helping," she said and no one said another word as she helped them drain the body, skin it and cut the meat into portions that they carefully wrapped and placed into their horse's saddle bags. Audric was taking back the skin to tan it as it was his kill.

Despite having been elbows deep in gore, Arya wasn't covered in blood like the rest of them. Gendry tried to make a light comment about it as she washed her hands in a crick and he was stood there trying to get some of the blood off his tunic, but she turned her back on him without a word.

She didn't speak to him again as they rode back, even though all the other men were happily discussing the hunt and many other hunts they'd been on before.

Once they reached the camp, Arya slid from her horse and immediately took off into the trees, Gendry called after her before dismounting his own horse and tore off hot on her heels.

"Go away," She called back to him, but he ignored her.

"Arya, stop!" He said forcefully. She didn't even glance at him over her shoulder, but instead made a growling noise and picked up her pace. In the back of his mind, Gendry was surprised by how fast she moved while still being so much smaller than him.

They'd stomped almost a full mile before she reached a clearing and spun to face him. Her fists were clenched into tight balls and Gendry had no doubt that she would have hurled something at him if she had anything to hand. Luckily for him, there were only mossy ferns in this part of the forest.

"I will never marry. Stop following me and stop making cow eyes at me," She yelled, her eyes two angrily narrowed slits in her face. Gendry had genuinely never seen her this mad, as long as he had known her.

"So you don't plan on giving me a chance. Even after you promised?" His voice was so wounded and he looked like such a kicked puppy dog that Ayra found herself getting even madder.

"I have lands and a title. I have banner men who would die for me. I don't need a lord to strip me of my freedom and remind me of what becomes a lady."

"I would never do that," Gendry argued.

"You say that now, but look at what you've already done! Worrying away about me going on the hunt. Making others remember I am a delicate lady. I am more than capable of hunting and taking care of my men."

"But why always alone, Arya?" He asked.

"I don't need anyone. When you let people close to you, they die or betray you or leave." Her stare was incredibly pointed.

He clenched his fists, feeling anger at her aloof cruelty welling up in him. He was speechless. She didn't know what it was like to lose her. Unbidden, a memory popped into his mind.

He'd been looking for Arya after she ran out. Rain dripped from his sodden hair into his eyes, but he didn't care. All he was worried about was finding the little girl who was his best friend. He'd looked everywhere, even the stable twice and still there was no sign of her.

He'd been shouting her name in the yard when Harwin found him. "Have you seen her?" He'd asked and Harwin had shook his head no. Harwin had ridden out then, but he'd returned several hours later sodden with rain and downcast. The rain had made it impossible to tell where she'd went and they didn't really know.

They'd still looked for her, but not hard and Gendry had had to accept that she was gone, but he missed her as though his right arm had been chopped off. He'd become sullen and surly, determined to never again let someone in.

It had gotten even worse when word spread that she'd married Ramsey Bolton. Him a bastard raised to a lord. Gendry didn't fully remember what had happened for a few days after Lem had told him.

Willow had said he drank himself into a stupor and passed out on the floor of the inn. Once he was sober again, Gendry had thrown himself into helping the war orphans. It felt good to take care of others, even though he carried around a large Arya-shaped hole in his heart.

"You left us," he said incredulously, coming back into the present and feeling so wronged by the woman in front of him.

"You swore yourself to the Brotherhood."

"You ran away!" Gendry stormed. He was thunderstruck by her inability to understand.

"The Hound took me captive. Didn't do him any good though. We arrived at the Twins after they'd killed my family. I left him to die in the hills shortly after," Arya said bitterly.

"You've blame me for leaving all these years?"

Arya shrugged as if it was nothing to her.

"Why would you do that! I did nothing but worry about you. I thought you'd been killed and then married to the bastard Bolton and then dead again. You think that was easy for me?"

"You told me you would go with me to Winterfell and serve Rob and the first chance you had you pledged yourself to the Brotherhood. You were going to leave me, you just hadn't yet."

"Shut up," he growled. He was fast losing the battle with his temper and it seemed as if Arya was determined to continue pushing his buttons.

"Yours is the fury," she mocked, shoving him in the chest.

"You would like that wouldn't you," He said through clenched teeth. "It's easier to try to make me mad at you than to admit I'm right."

"You are mad at me," Arya said snidely, pointing to his hands which were shaking with rage.

"Yes! I am furious. Congratulations," he yelled finally losing his temper.

"This is why it's for the best you marry someone else. Look at what I do to you!"

Her words made Gendry pause and his face slowly lost its redness. He was thinking to himself how ridiculous the situation was and he suddenly laughed a short barking laugh, but still a laugh.

"And you say I'm the stupid one. The only thing you're doing is hurting yourself."

She flushed, hot anger bubbling up her throat, but he'd turned and started back through the trees to the horses. She found herself jogging to catch him, despite her anger.

"How dare you," she bit out as she came up beside him.

He whirled on her, grabbed her arms and shook her forcefully. "Seven hells. I am in love with you. I will be here whether you marry me or not. For whatever we find on Skagos. When you go beyond the wall to find Bran. I am going to be there, so stop trying to push me away and stop being such a trumped up brat about it."

The shaking hadn't done anything, but his words did. She slapped him hard across the face as soon as he had let go of her wrists, but he didn't have time to react, because the next moment she'd fisted her hands into his tunic and pulled his lips to hers. It wasn't a nice kiss and he could taste her anger, as she bit his lip and dueled with his tongue, but it was the first kiss they'd ever had.

When they broke apart Gendry thought he saw stars. Arya's hold loosened and she buried her head in his chest.

"I'm not leaving you. Please get it through that thick head of yours," he said as he wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"I will someday," she said weakly.

She stiffened and pulled away from him as if remembering herself. "Alright, my lady?" He asked and she nodded, but not before murmuring, "Don't call me that, please?"

"Arya," he said equally as soft and he couldn't resist pulling her close again to kiss first her forehead, then each cheek, until he left a sweet chaste kiss on her lips. It made her feel worse about being terrible to him.

"May I speak plain?" He asked and she nodded warily.

"I'm sorry I said anything. I just worry about you. No matter how silly that is."

"I understand, but you can't mother me, especially in front of the others. I can take care of myself," she said grabbing his big hands in her little ones.

"Yes, my lady," He mumbled.

"You forget I was a Faceless Man. I don't fear death, but I won't do anything foolish or reckless."

Gendry had to chuckle. "I don't think your idea of foolish and reckless agrees with mine, but I promise I won't interfere," he paused, "That doesn't mean I won't still worry about you."

Arya shook her head, but she no longer looked upset. "Good. Someone has to," she said dropping his hands and looking around at the forest which had been growing darker around them. "We should go back."

"Not looking forward to what the men will say," Gendry said as they started walking again, side by side.

"What do you mean?"

Gendry reddened. "You stormed off and I followed. We've been gone a long while..." he trailed off.

Arya's laugh was quick and light. Of course, Gendry would worry about her honor. "Let them believe you lay with me in the weeds."

Gendry spluttered in surprise. This only made Arya giggle; high pitched and girly. "Don't worry, my lord. Your virtue is safe with me."

She winked at him as they finally broke through the trees and the horses and men came into view.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Arya sat heavily on a log that someone had pulled up to the fire and she stuck her hands out to warm them. They were moving towards the hills beyond the flat and treed Riverlands, but the temperature seemed to be dropping faster than she'd expected.

Audric sat next to her on the log suddenly his leg brushing hers and for some reason it made her jump. She shifted slightly to avoid the contact, while turning to look at her captain. He was smiling broadly and had been since taking down the boar.

It reminded her of Gendry stopping her from killing the boar herself, but then it reminded her of other things that Gendry had done and she tried very hard to keep from flushing. She furtively looked away from Audric to where the cook was turning a spit of meat.

"Is my lady well?" He asked.

"Just hungry," Arya admitted and she was, when she'd seen the meat her mouth had instantly began to salivate.

"I apologize for stealing your kill, my lady. I was just worried about the boar getting away." Audric said and Arya shrugged.

"It was well done, Audric. I thank you for that."

"I know you wanted to kill the boar yourself before Ser Baratheon stopped you," Audric said and the way he said Baratheon made it sounds like a curse.

She wondered what he was on about. She didn't have to wait long as he went on.

"He shouldn't treat you like that, even with him being a lord."

Arya frowned, "That's really none of your business."

"But my lady, it undermines your standing with the men. They follow you. Not some bastard made legitimate."

Arya bristled, her temper flaring hot and heavy in her chest. These may have been things she'd said to Gendry herself, but she did not appreciate it being told to her by Audric. He presumed too much.

"You are the captain of my guard, Ser and you will remember your place," she said. She rarely used her nobility against anyone, but sometimes it was the most effective way to shut up someone who wanted her favor.

As she stood up, Gendry happened to walk up, holding her trencher of meat. She didn't even look back at Audric as she felt into step with Gendry, taking her food from him eagerly.

That was probably for the best as she would have seen the dark look on his face.

Later that night, Gendry was in his tent getting ready for bed. He had turned to say something to Dunstin and there she was; standing at the entrance looking as innocent as a new babe.

Gendry snorted at the thought.

With not a word, Arya walked past him, threw her cloak on a chair and crawled into his bed as if this was normal occurrence. Gendry found that he didn't mind.

He finished undressing and got under the furs with her. She was lying on her back looking up at the canvas of the tent with a deep line in her brow. He knew that look and he knew what it meant. "It's going to be okay," he said as he lay down and rolled on his side to face her.

Arya's expression changed quickly, her eyebrows furrowing in surprise. She'd been so lost in her own world that she didn't realize until that moment that Gendry knew she was worried, even though they'd gotten a lot of meat from the boar, they still had a long way to go to White Harbor and meat was harder to keep than grain and flour.

"I know. It just doesn't feel like it right now."

"Why are you here, my lady?"

Arya sighed. "I sleep better next to you, Gendry" she admitted turning away from him so he couldn't see her cheeks redden.

"Me too, "he whispered to her back. It had been the same when they were younger and on the run. Back when he'd thought of her as the stubborn little girl who was oddly well suited to surviving the worst. He remembered asking her to leave Lommy, Hot Pie and Weasel, as he knew the two of them could travel easier and safer. She'd talked him out of it and she'd followed right after him after he was captured.

Arya was a fierce warrior, but he knew her secret, she hid a big, compassionate heart under those scowls and quips ad he didn't doubt she'd love him fiercely if he was lucky.

Arya awoke with her head on Gendry's chest. She didn't remember cuddling so close to him but when she moved away she felt a chill in the air and figured she'd grown cold and sought out his body heat. She sat up in the furs. The world was silent; a silence she knew in her bones but hadn't heard in a long time.

Without waking Gendry, she slid out of bed and padded to the front opening of the tent. She lifted the flap and immediately felt goose flesh bloom across her arms as the icy air hit her skin. In the night, a blanket of snow had settled over the camp. She let the flap drop and went back to the bed.

"Gendry," she said shaking his shoulder.

He grumbled at her and rolled over.

"Gendry, there's snow," she said and her voice was giddy.

"Snow," he said sounding confused. He squinted his eyes but did not open them. "But we're not in the North yet."

Arya laughed. He sat up and cursed at the cold as the furs dropped from around his bare chest.

"Seven hells, Gendry! Have you never seen cold?"

"I've lived in the South my whole life," he said defensively.

"Winter's coming," Arya said; being reminded of her mother and her seemingly endless worrying.

Gendry was rubbing the sleep from his eyes and he chortled.

"What does that mean? I've heard your men saying it. It bloody well seems like winter has come already."

"Not winter, winter, stupid," Arya said sitting on the edge of the bed. "Like bad times. It means to always be prepared for the worst."

"Sounds tiresome," Gendry grumbled. Arya forgot he was generally grumpy in the morning, even with her. But his sullenness did remind her that snow wasn't a good sign. Not this far south at this time of year.

"It doesn't feel right," Gendry said as they heard Dunstin stirring behind the screen. Arya crossed her arms to try and stop a shiver. Now that she'd stopped being excited about the snow, she felt it too.

She cursed herself then for letting her senses grow soft. She felt safe with Gendry and it was throwing off all of her training, she thought.

She stood and grabbed her cloak from the chair. Gendry had his usual morning frown. She kissed him on the nose, receiving a 'harrumph' before she pulled on her boots and left.

Once outside, Arya felt the cold nipping at her nose. She drew her hood over her head and crept silently through the drifts to her own tent.

Bayard was snoring on his cot in the corner, even though her squire had taken keenly to what he thought was guarding her life, when he slept he was dead to the world, which was something Arya counted on so that she could come and go as she pleased.

She moved to stoke the brazier in the middle of her tent, which had run low on wood during the night. She rubbed her hands together as the fire roared back to life. That's when she heard it, a quiet crunching in the blown snow.

At first, she took it for her men getting up. The sun was just rising and she could see the pink glow of the light seeping under the tent entrance flap. Soon they'd be on the march again, as she was eager to move that much closer to White Harbor.

Out of the silence she heard a frightened shout. Her first thought was of the wolves, but Nymeria and her pack had departed a day or so before to hunt. Arya had run with them in her dreams and knew they were not close at hand.

The shouting had seemed to rouse the whole camp, Arya saw as she peeked from behind the tent flap. Men were arming themselves, but for what, Arya couldn't tell and she didn't stop to ask anyone either.

She ducked back inside and roughly shook Bayard awake.

"We're under attack," she hissed at him before moving away to find her armor.

She shrugged on her boiled leathers, threw her cloak back over her shoulders and grabbed Ice. Bayard was still struggling with his boots when she threw his daggers onto the cot beside his thigh. She also handed him an ax.

"You can throw this, but that leaves you unarmed while you fetch it," she warned. Her squire nodded.

As she went to leave the tent, he captured her hand and squeezed it. "Keep safe, my lady."

She squeezed back and then she was outside in the chaos. There were men everywhere and Arya searched for Gendry, only to see him at a distance, wielding his large sword at one of his own men. The sight made Arya's head spin.

She went to move forward towards Gendry and felt something grasp her cloak and pull. She turned and her eyes met a skeletal face with burning blue eyes. She gasped, unable to stop the recoil she felt in her entire body. It was as if her nightmares had come true and risen up before her.

The wight carried a heavily studded mace and he swung it at Ayra's head ferociously, she ducked and drove Ice up through the wight's belly. It stopped and as she withdrew the sword it slid to the ground.

Jon's words rang in her head then, 'To truly kill them you need fire, dragon glass or Valerian steel'. They were words from one of his letters; one she'd received before the one that told her Jon had died at the hands of his brothers.

She moved forward, hacking at a wight that was fighting one of Gendry's banner men.

"You need fire," she said to the man as soon as she had parted the wight's head from its shoulders. "You have to burn them."

The man seemed to be frozen for a moment staring at the dead body and Arya saw one of their fallen comrades slowly rising again, eyes burning sapphire.

"Go get fire," Arya screamed at the man, shoving him hard in the shoulder and he stumbled off to where the cook fires had been. She turned and thrust Ice into the corpse's chest and then followed Gendry's man across the field.

Even though they'd been caught unaware, Arya saw that their men were holding their own against what looked like a dozen wights, but she knew that anyone who fell in battle would soon join the wight's ranks making it imperative that they were burned before they could do so.

She and the man met no resistance as they neared the fires and they lit several branches a piece and started back to the fighting with them in their arms.

Arya moved towards where Gendry was fighting with one of the creatures. It was big and had long white hair that streamed behind it in a phantom wind as they fought. He seemed to be a leader, a true white walker as he had finer clothing and he didn't look like a corpse, but something more frightening.

Arya was setting fire to any fallen men she came upon and the smoke from the fires stung her eyes as she walked, but she kept moving forward. Out of the haziness two more wights emerged ahead of her and to Gendry's back.

She reached Gendry's side and turned her back to his to defend him; planting her last burning branch in the ground and drawing her sword.

"Only Valerian steel and fire kills them," she said over her shoulder to Gendry.

He had hacked off the walker's arm and he grunted as he then cut the legs out from under it as the two other wights advanced on Arya. One had a long spear tipped with an iron point. Arya knew it would give him a longer range, as he stabbed at her and she danced out of the way.

Behind her, Gendry had taken the torch and set the commander on fire, now he turned and swung the branch at the two wights fighting Arya. He managed to clip the one without a spear and flames traveled up its ruined arm and its whole body caught flame like so much kindling.

The wight with the spear didn't wait, he swung the spear at Gendry and the point screeched across his breast plate metal, leaving a deep scratch, but not doing any real damage.

Arya struck then, hacking the arm holding the spear off and then plunging Ice into the ruined ribcage. Gendry stepped forward to light it on fire and they stood together watching it burn for a moment.

"Are you alright," Gendry asked turning towards her. He saw Arya's eyes flicker with the firelight and she looked frightened, which wasn't something he was used to.

"Yes, but there's still more," she said grimly and started walking back the way she'd come.

He followed her back through the camp and towards the trees where some of their men were still fighting. Gendry went to aid them, while Arya torched the bodies lying in the snow.

She was just bent over, toughing her torch to the sleeve of one of her men, when a dagger whistled past her ear and lodging in a stump behind her. She wheeled around and found herself staring into the glowing blue eyes of Bayard.


	7. Chapter 7

A scream left her lips, whether she knew it or not, and the boy advanced on her raising the ax she'd given him. His throat had been cut and dark blood had stained most of his collar and front of his clothes, but it was his dead expression that chilled her to her bones.

She waited for him to come closer, Ice in one hand and the burning branch in another. Bayard advanced towards her quickly and without warning, threw the ax at her.

As she dodged it, he leapt over a log and was upon her. The branch in her hand threw her off balance and she stumbled backwards. Bayard used his weight to push her to the ground. She was thankful he must have lost the knives at some point, but it was a small blessing as he was crushing her into the snow, his hands scrabbling at her.

She touched the torch to Bayard's sleeve but it didn't catch and she realized that his clothes were damp as though he'd fallen into the snow at some point. She dropped the torch and fought his hands, which had begun to close around her throat tightly.

After a brief struggle, she was able to throw him off of her by levering her legs off the ground and flipping him onto his back. She stood quickly and only then did she realize tears were falling down her cheeks. She swiped at her eyes angrily to clear her vision, as Bayard was struggling to stand from the snow bank they'd fallen into only a few feet away.

"I'm sorry," she said to him as she swung Ice and took his head off before he could rise from his knees. The body crumpled to the ground and Arya moved towards it, sobbing now.

Gendry found her soon after, cradling the body in her lap. He didn't say a word as he pried Bayard from her arms and pulled her up from the snow.

"We have to burn him," he finally said after a few moments of holding her to his chest. He was surprised that she let him. She nodded numbly and pulled away from him to start gathering twigs and branches as if in a trance.

"Those won't light, Arya," Gendry warned and she looked up at him then with a surprised expression as though she'd just realized he was there.

"It's my fault he's dead," she said in a flat voice and she let the kindling drop from her arms.

"No, it's not," Gendry countered, but she didn't seem to hear him as she wandered back towards the camp. Gendry followed her and watched her retrieve several dry branches from the ones the cooks had saved and lit one on fire before trudging back to where Bayard lay.

She had to remove his tunic, which was soaked with snow and she carefully moved his head so it looked like it was part of his body. Then she laid the branches around him and lit it all on fire.

Arya stood apart from Gendry as the body burned her eyes fathomless pools and her mouth set in a grim line.

"We should go back to Riverun," Gendry said to her softly once the body was a smoldering mark on the ground. Arya sniffed and wiped her nose on the back of her hand.

"What about my brothers?"

"We're in mortal danger, Arya. We have to protect our people and what happens if we are attacked again?"

"They're all the family I have," Arya said in a high voice and for just a moment her eyes went very wide.

Right then Gendry knew there was nothing in the world that would stop her from going North. White walkers be damned. And if she didn't, a large part of her would break. Gendry would do anything to stop that from happening.

He also felt momentary confusion, as he had thought she had a sister and a bastard brother as well. He tucked his questions away for another time, when Arya didn't look like she was going to fall apart.

"Then we'll continue on, Arya," he said adamantly.

Her cheeks were still wet with her tears, but her voice was steel, "We have to protect the realm."

"Send our men back to rally our banners and whoever else they can. We can continue towards your brothers."

Arya stared at him for a moment, as if she was surprised he'd changed his mind. "You're willing to risk your life for me?"

"I hope it doesn't come to that," Gendry said lightly, which earned him a slight smile.

"We'll gather the men," Arya said and she scrubbed her cheeks of wetness, but they remained pink and her eyes looked too large and shining in her face.

They gathered the remaining men in the middle of the camp among the smoldering remains of their comrades. They'd lost twelve good men to the wights and Arya looked at the faces around her, noting who was gone.

Once she was done, she turned to Audric. "What happened to our scouts?"

He pointed at a mostly burnt body in the snow a few feet away from them. "They came back to us. As wights."

Arya nodded resignedly.

"We need to go back, my lady. The realm is in danger," Audric said

"You're right. The realm is in danger and we need to warn them," Arya said and her captain looked relieved.

"You'll lead the company back to Riverrun, Audric. Be as fast as you can. All of our lives depend on you," Arya continued.

"Where are you going, my lady?" Audric questioned, his eyebrows coming down in confusion.

"Gendry and I will continue on to Skagos," she said and there erupted many shouts of disagreement from the gathered men.

Arya stiffened and an angry look flashed across her face. Gendry knew that look and he wondered what she was going to do.

"The man who thinks he will stop me from going to my brother only needs to step forward," she said and that shut them all up immediately.

Gendry wanted to laugh in incredulity. She was so small standing near all these giant men, but he saw that none of them truly wanted to go against her.

This is what the North was fighting for, he realized as he stared at Arya. Her strength and courage, even as the world burned around her. He'd never met person who was so determined and he'd thought himself stubborn.

"Since we're in agreement, we must not waste any time and leave immediately," Arya said and the men broke up going to their respective tasks.

Arya moved to Gendry's side. "I'm surprised they didn't put up more of a fight."

"You're the only person who things they can win against my stubbornness, Gendry," she pointed out with a smirk. She wasn't wrong, since he'd been in her company again, he'd witnessed seasoned warriors defer to her over and over again and he knew it wasn't just because she was a highborn lady.

Usually their squires would pack their things, but because they were splitting up and since Bayard was dead, Arya and Gendry looked over their supplies together, discarding anything they couldn't load onto their horses.

"We're only going to need one tent," Arya said as Dunstin pulled Gendry's down and started to pack it away.

"Yours," Gendry said immediately. Arya's tent was small, easier to pack and camouflaged.

"I'm going to go get us some provisions," Arya said as the two men started to take down her tent. She wanted to be away from the clearing and the smell of burnt flesh as soon as possible.

Arya walked towards the wagon that held food, a burlap sack in her hands. She packed as much as she could, making sure to favor items that would keep a long time, which meant only a tiny bit of the boar meat.

As she was finishing up she heard a footstep behind her and turned, expecting it to be Gendry coming to check up on her. Sometimes she swore he was like her shadow and she wanted to hate that, but she didn't.

Instead of Gendry, it was Audric standing behind her in his full armor. He was looking at her sheepishly. She almost snapped at him to go away, as she wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, but she thought better of it, reminding herself of his service to her.

"Be careful, my lady. I don't think I have to tell you what you mean to the Riverlands and the North."

"The Riverlands and the North or you?" She asked, tired of pretending she did not know.

Audric turned red and Arya sighed. She'd known Audric wanted to marry her for a long time. She'd heard his mother whispering with one of the maids about how Arya favored the young man and she had, but only because he was an adept leader and a good friend.

"Be safe yourself, Audric," She said quickly patting his shoulder and walking swiftly past with her sack bursting with food. She hadn't meant to bring up that she knew he liked her, it really had just slipped out, but now she didn't want to talk about it further. Surprisingly, he let her go without a word, probably too mortified to confront her.

When she reached Gendry and Dunstin they already had the horses tacked and loaded with their supplies. Arya smiled gratefully at Gendry's squire.

"Don't worry, Dunstin. I will take good care of your lord," she joked as she tied the food to her saddle.

"Very good, my lady," he said humorlessly. 'He was a hard egg to crack, that Dunstin,' Arya thought, before she mounted her horse.

Gendry bid Dunstin goodbye and mounted his own horse.

"Arya and Gendry off on an adventure, just like in a song," he said to Arya as they moved off and she laughed a private kind of laugh.

She'd never told him she'd once thought of marauding with him like Wenda the White Fawn when she was still a child and the thought rose up in her mind again. Perhaps in a weird twist she was getting that wish after all.

Arya and Gendry rode in silence through the trees, they'd left the King's Road long since and started east towards White Harbor. When they reached open land they road hard, making good time now that they had no supply wagons to slow them and it was just the two of them.

Arya had been fine when they were packing things up, but now that they had nothing to occupy herself with she'd fallen into a stony silence. Gendry knew she was grieving Bayard so he didn't try to draw her into conversation.

For him the journey north was a nightmare. He'd been raised in warmer climes and hated the way the cold got into your bones and would not let go. He turned up his collar and tried to pull his cloak as close as possible, but he still felt the cold biting at him all the same.

He didn't complain to Arya, but when they stopped midday to eat, he saw her looking at him with knowing eyes.

"The cold is hard for you," she said, coming over to put her hands in his. He felt the warmth returning to his fingertips in her grasp and it hurt more than before when he couldn't feel them at all.

"It will get worse the farther north we head. Are you absolutely certain you want to do this?"

"You know I'd never let you go alone," was his answer and she smiled softly, letting go of his hands.

"I think we're two or three day's ride from White Harbor. We better press on," she said going to her horse and mounting quickly, barely looking back to see if Gendry had followed.

The first village they came to, Arya used half of their coin to buy a hot meal and a room in an inn. Gendry had balked at that; unsure of how they'd buy passage to Skagos, but Arya gave him a determined look and told him she had a plan.

What it was, she wouldn't tell him until later as they ate in the dining hall of the inn.

"We'll commandeer one of the pirate vessels that are bound to be at White Harbor, or a merchant ship," She said nonchalantly, in between bites of bread.

Gendry sat with his mouth hanging open for a moment before snapping it shut.

"Commandeer? How?" He finally settled on asking.

"I have tricks up my sleeve. Do you trust me?" Arya asked with a wicked glint in her eyes and a smirk painting her lips.

Gendry groaned. "I do, but I have the distinct feeling I'm going to regret this."

Arya laughed, sounding again like the young woman she appeared to be instead of the hardened assassin she was.

"Gendry, it will be an adventure."

"I've had enough of those," Gendry snarked; taking a large gulp of his ale.

"Mayhap I am not the lady for you," Arya said playfully. He glared at her for the jape.

"Alright, grumpy britches. I promise I will not put us in harm's way," Arya said sticking out her hand to shake his.

He took her hand, but pulled it down to the table and kept hold of it, going back to eating his broth. Arya didn't pull her hand away and let him hold it while they both finished eating.

"What did you tell them," Gendry asked as they went up the narrow stairs to their room. It was hardly appropriate for him to share a room with her, no matter how many times he'd slept beside her before.

"I told the inn keeper we're married," Arya said with a slight nervous edge to her voice, or maybe he'd imagined it.

"Why not brother and sister," he joked, remembering with sudden clarity the time he'd told a grasping old man that and she'd been so angry with him. He hadn't understood at all at the time and he still wondered at why that had enraged her so. It had just been a lie for a stranger.

She just gave him a shove, and he fell through the door into their small room. Arya followed in and closed the door.

"Unless you feel like suddenly treating me like a sister, that lie isn't going to work," Arya said and she poked him in the chest to emphasize her point.

"Hey, I think you kissed me," Gendry defended and she gave him a saucy look and stood on her tip toes so that her face was close to his.

"Don't make me do it again," she said, but Gendry had already put his hands on her waist and was holding here there.

"Well you're in trouble," Gendry said softly before he kissed her. Arya brought her arms around his neck and kissed him back, making the kiss turn fierce. They both pulled apart for air and Arya smirked, "Still want to be my brother?"


	8. Chapter 8

In the end, Gendry had wrapped Arya tightly in a sheet when she'd gotten too handsy and reminded her that she hadn't agreed to marry him. She'd huffed at him, but soon fell asleep with his arm draped over her side and her face buried in his shoulder.

The next morning as they sat at a long table breaking their fast and Arya noticed that the inn keeper kept giving them disapproving looks as she moved around serving the smattering of people in the hall and she assumed she'd heard their loud giggling the night before. When Gendry saw, we blushed crimson. Arya kept her giggle to herself. Gendry was a grown man, but there was still something of the quiet armorer's apprentice about him and she found it funny. 'Some things don't change', she thought.

"What's Skagos like?" Gendry asked and Arya's eyes were drawn back to his face. She had been about to make a sarcastic retort, but was reminded that he hadn't had the same education she had. She'd been taught geography and the houses of Westeros from the time she could talk because her father felt it was important. Gendry hadn't had that same privilege, having grown up as a lowborn bastard.

"It's a hard place. The people there are called stone people. Hardly anyone bothers with the island, it's just too remote and it's dangerous sailing there."

At those words, Gendry's ears pricked up and he looked at Arya, who was eating her porridge determinedly.

"How dangerous is it to sail there?"

"Quite dangerous. They say the rains can freeze the ropes and sails of a ship. There's also the ice fields to navigate, but it shouldn't be as bad this time of year," she said and Gendry looked skeptical.

"I suppose I should have guessed," he said and Arya felt a little bad.

"I will pick a smart crew. A ship that's sailed that way before. It won't be rashly done," Arya said.

"You can't account for the weather, my lady."

"I would learn how," she said forcefully looking down at her food. Gendry touched her hand and smiled.

"You're the stubbornest woman alive, but I trust you to get us there."

"I will and we will get my brother and sail for Eastwatch. The journey there is a third of the distance that we have to sail to get to Skagos," Arya explained.

"How do you know all this, Arya?"

"I studied the maps while I was waiting for you to heal. I have the way north memorized."

"I can't imagine keeping all that information in your head," Gendry said and she laughed.

"Don't praise me too much yet. Remember our journey towards Riverrun? I thought I knew the way then."

"You almost got us there," Gendry pointed out.

"Almost isn't good enough in this case."

The road to White Harbor was full of wagons and life. Gendry and Arya blended in with the other travelers, their clothes plain enough to make them look like anyone else. They kept their hoods up and their heads down, not wanting to be spotted. It was easier to move that way and they didn't want to be targeted by thieves who often targeted the lords and ladies moving down the road.

As they rode, Arya was happy to find that the miles fell away more quickly than she would have believed. She was anxious to make it to White Harbor and closer to her brother.

Soon enough they were riding into White Harbor, dodging carts of supplies going to the market square. The port town was smaller than King's Landing, but it was still bustling. Gendry thought it felt nice to be in a town again after all the days on the road. He hadn't been a proper town for almost a year and part of him missed it.

Arya started down a side street then, and Gendry followed confused as to why they were not making their way directly to the ships, but he didn't question her. They rode down the small street, which was sided by small houses, which got shabbier and shabbier as they went.

They passed a small ramshackle house, with a bent old man tending a small garden on the side of the house. They kept going until they reached a dead end of tiny hovels teetering on each other. She turned them around and went back to the house with the man outside.

Arya stopped and dismounted her horse.

"Good morning, sir," she said and he stood a bit taller, his eyes squinting at her.

His face was craggy and hard, but when he saw Arya and seemed to recognize her, his face softened considerably.

"You're a Stark child," he said in gravelly voice and he bowed his head to her as a sign of deference.

"Yes, and I need your help," Arya said and she motioned to the horses, "We journey to Skagos and I need someone to take care of our horses while we are gone. It's a dangerous journey that we may not come back from, so if something is to happen to us, the horses would need a home."

"It would be my honor, lady," the man said and she handed the reigns of her horse him and motioned for Gendry to do the same.

She pulled a small clinking pouch from her boot and handed it the man. "For your trouble," she said and he shook his head.

"No coin needed, my lady," he protested, trying to give it back to her, but she pressed it into his hand anyway.

"It will pay to feed them." After that, the old man relented, nodding again and Gendry got down and gave the man the reigns to his horse as well.

As they walked away from the small house, he turned to Arya, "Think we will ever see them again?"

He'd become attached to his horse and the way he said it made Arya feel sudden guilt for dragging Gendry through all of her dangerous schemes, yet she didn't want to face any of this with anyone else. She'd only ever fully trusted him since they'd met. She felt the need to tell him somehow.

She stopped walking and it took a moment for Gendry to stop and turn back towards her. He looked concerned.

"You'll see him again, Gendry. I will make sure of it," She said, not knowing if her words were true, but knowing she'd do anything to make sure they were.

They'd spent the afternoon on the docks, reviewing the ships anchored there. Arya had spoken to the harbor master, who kept the records of the ships that came and went and she'd found out from him what ships had been to Skagos recently.

Gendry had agreed to the plan, but he was still apprehensive as he looked up at the ship. Its white sails were snapping in the slight breeze and here in the harbor it looked like an innocent trading ship. Not that Gendry knew a lot about ships. He'd never bothered to go to the harbor in King's Landing. He'd been too busy learning his craft from Tobo Mott.

"You sure they're pirates?" He whispered and Arya ignored him. Or maybe she hadn't heard him, she was intently taking in every facet of the ship it seemed, her dark grey eyes darting around with intense concentration.

Without a word, Arya started up the gang plank with Gendry following reluctantly behind. He had his sword tucked under his cloak and a dagger on his belt. Although he couldn't actually see any weapons on her person, he knew Arya was armed to the teeth.

"I want to speak to the captain," Arya called to the first men they came upon, who happened to be carrying a heavy wooden cask between them.

"He's aft," one of the men said gruffly, not even lifting his eyes to see the short woman standing in front of him. They moved grunting under the weight of the cargo.

Arya moved forward, her steps were sure and she gave off a confidence Gendry didn't feel at all. They soon found the captain on the deck, talking to his first mate. The man was not much taller than Arya, but he looked much broader in his fine purple brocade coat. Gendry had somehow always thought pirates would be dirty, but this man looked like a very rich lord, with an exaggerated sort of dress.

"Good sir. I want to engage your ship," Arya said once the captain stopped talking to stare at her and Gendry.

"I have no need of a couple gutter rats." The captain said, holding up his hand to dismiss them. All his rings caught the sun and twinkled in Gendry's eyes.

Arya pulled something from her belt and flipped it at the captain's feet. The strange square coin flipped end over end and hit the captain's tall black boots. He looked down and his face became ashen. He looked up at Arya and his eyes seemed to pop from his head in fear.

"You know what I am. You know what I can do. Surrender the ship and I'll let you live out your miserable days," she said in a deadly tone.

The captain dropped to his knees and looked up at Arya with his hands wringing together. "Please this ship is all I have."

Arya snorted. "What good is a ship if you're dead?"

The man started sobbing and it took several moments before he finally nodded at Arya in acquiescence.

"Lock him in the brig," Arya demanded of a giant sailor who'd stopped to gawk at the captain's display. He moved quickly to obey, much to Gendry's surprise.

Gendry looked down at Arya, whose expression was a stony mask, but when she caught him staring she winked.

"Get us under way," Arya said brusquely to the brawny first mate. The man gave a curse and did as he was told, shouting at the top of his lungs for the sailors to trim the top sail and prepare to pull anchor.

Arya had a swagger that was inappropriate for a woman, but Gendry loved it. She swaggered now, all fox in the hen house, as she led Gendry towards the cabin on deck.

"And that's how you commandeer a ship with no money and no bloodshed," Arya said smugly as she opened the ornate door into the captain's quarters and they went in.

Gendry grabbed her arms and turned her so he could see her face. "How did you do that?" He wanted to know.

"Just a little Braavosi intimidation," Arya said with a wicked smile. "I'm feeling like... you know when you wake up and it's the first day of summer. True summer. And you've got the whole world at your feet?" She giggled, "I feel like that."

The cabin was the most luxurious place Gendry had ever set foot. There was a huge table in front of them as they came in with scattered maps and papers. To the left side, was an alcove where a large feather bed and giant wooden chest sat. Arya moved towards the chest and opened it as if it belonged to her and Gendry supposed that now it did.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for better clothes," Arya said as she rummaged through the contents, "You saw how the captain was dressed. He has a taste for fine jewelry and clothing and he's almost my size."

"Aha," she cried lifting out a pair of brown wool breeches and a flowy white shirt. Two seconds later she pulled out a tall pair of leather boots. Lastly, came a thick bear skin coat.

"You'll look like a real pirate," Gendry remarked, as she stepped behind a wood screen, he hadn't noticed, in the corner of the room.

"I am a pirate," Arya said, though her voice was muffled as if she had her tunic halfway over her head.

Gendry shook his head and settled into the chair by the large writing desk. He couldn't make heads or tails of the maps, but he looked at them like he could. He wanted to know how far away Skagos was but he didn't know which blob it was.

"Would you like to learn how to read?" Arya said popping up behind him and he jumped, having not realized she was there.

"I don't know," Gendry said quietly, once his heart had returned to its normal pace. Deep down he was afraid that after this long, he was unteachable and would never be able to pick it up.

"Think about it. We'll have time on this journey. It should take around three weeks before we reach Skagos as long as we don't encounter too many storms."

"Is my lady that patient?"

"Sometimes no, but for you I will make an exception," she said moving around the table to sit in the other chair.

"We'll need to inspect my ship. Make sure the crew are doing as they should."

Gendry nodded and followed her out onto the deck. They met each member of the crew, Arya memorizing their names and ranks before they moved on. Eventually they ended up in the hold, looking over stacks and stacks of barrels and crates.

"There's got to be a log somewhere of what they have on board. The captain would need to know so he'd know if someone tried to steal anything."

"Good idea," Gendry said giving a shiver. Arya had the bear skin coat on and she seemed impervious to the cold, but he felt as if he was being pressed on all sides by ice. It was an unpleasant feeling and he was looking forward to going back to the captain's quarters.

"We'll speak to the first mate," Arya said leading Gendry up the ladder and back onto deck.

The first mate, who was a huge man with a sunburnt face, as if he'd just come from somewhere tropical, told Arya the logs were kept in a tiny room off the captain's quarters. She thanked him profusely and he gave her a smile, even though most of his teeth were missing and went lumbering off to perform his duties.

The door to small room was locked and Arya cursed as she examined the lock, "I can't pick this," she said looking at Gendry doubtfully.

"Move aside, Arya," he said and with one well aimed hit from his large shoulders the door popped open with a squeak.

She took the books she was looking for the room triumphantly in her arms and Gendry was happy when she led him back to the captain's quarters. He was looking forward to climbing under the down covers and never appearing again until they'd reached Skagos, or at least that's what he wanted to do.

"What if your wife gives you only daughters or no children at all?" Arya asked out of the blue; looking up from the huge tome laid out before her on the heavy oak table in the captain's quarters. Gendry suspected that she was hammering out the details of their marriage with him, but she'd never admit it.

"What's wrong with daughters? And if she had no children I'd live with it," Gendry answered truthfully. They had found some wine casks in the hold and he was indulging on some of the Arbor red.

"But wouldn't you resent her?"

"I come from nothing, Arya. I'm not like the other lords who want to continue their legacy. I'll be happy if we have no children or if we have several. Even daughters." She blushed at his use of 'we'.

"Any daughter of yours could hold her own against the boys, so why worry?" Gendry teased.

"I wasn't speaking of myself," Arya snapped, going back to looking over the log.

"Of course not, my lady," Gendry said barely containing his laughter.

"This ship is up to its gun whales in apples. Who in the world did they pillage?" Arya said with a frustrated sigh. Arya had been cataloging their supplies and marking down the things they'd already taken from the hold. She didn't seem too excited by what she'd found.

"At least there's food," Gendry said, "And wine."

"Go easy on the wine. We're going to need things to trade for more supplies when we reach Skagos."

"Aren't they your banner men? I doubt they would ask for anything for what we need," Gendry said.

"Even so. I want to be prepared," Arya said, closing the cover of the book with a thump.

As silly as it sounded, Gendry admired Arya's ability to strategize. She'd been the factor that kept them alive when they'd fled Harrenhal and it seemed to him she'd only become more adept during her time away in Braavos.

She was wearing one of the captain's wide, black hats which boasted a large purple feather and sat at a jaunty angle over her hair. The bear skin coat's collar stood up near her chin, making her look intimidating, even to him.

But her grey eyes were looking at him with that look he liked too much. Like she was just happy to see his face.

"I'm going onto the deck. Would you join me?"

"Only if you stop scaring, Tom," Gendry said standing up. Arya had made enemies of the old boatswain nearly as soon as they'd met. The man treated all of the other sailors terribly and Arya had taken exception to it and had taken to scaring the daylights out of the man by sneaking up on him.

"Fine," Arya mumbled and button her coat to her chin. It was cold out on deck and they'd spent the majority of their time in the captain's cabin to avoid it.

As they exited the door they almost immediately stumbled over a squab cleaning the deck. He saluted Arya and gave her a crooked smile before going back to work. She smiled. At first, Gendry had figured the men on the ship would be upset that they'd been commandeered by a woman, but Arya had quickly won their respect and allegiance as she had with the lords of the North and the Riverlands. She had a knack for befriending people. Maybe it was because she had helped out on the deck, learning each job and learning about the men who did them.

Now the men worked diligently for her, only old Tom, who was a mean old cuss, didn't give her her due, but he was obstinate to everyone. Arya had even freed the captain, whose name was Mansel, and he'd been elected as the quarter master by the crew. He had laughed to see Arya in his great bear skin coat strutting around like he perhaps would have. He called her his protégé and they spent many evenings discussing sea travel, while Gendry entertained himself by trying to write the letters Arya had given him. He'd finally agreed to let her teach him to write and it had been slow going.

One night, as they were eating supper in the captain's quarters, Mansel's powdery scent still lingering in the air even though the man had left, Arya had grown restless. In her restlessness, she began to talk about things she'd rather have never told anyone, let alone Gendry.

"He had the nerve to tell me that he'd been tricked into marrying an impostor and by rights he should get me as a bride. Right before I slit his throat, that is."

Gendry, who had already been looking green throughout her story, leaned over and vomited into the bucket that had previously held apples.

"Gendry, this is who I am. Look at you! You can't even hear about my past without getting sick."

He put up his hand to stop her even though his head was still in the bucket. She heard him vomit again and then he finally raised his head weakly.

"I think I've been poisoned," he said.

"But I checked the food," she said skeptically, moving to grab his near empty tankard. She hadn't touched the wine, but Gendry had a soft spot for it. She smelled it and took a tiny sip, immediately making a face.

"It's not poison, but someone slipped blood root into your wine. It causes nausea."

Gendry gave another heave into the bucket as if to punctuate what she'd said. She set the tankard down and kneeled next to him, rubbing his back soothingly, much like her mother would do when she was little and had an upset stomach.

"I'm sorry. I thought I made you sick," she said softly.

He snorted in derision, but kept his head down. Arya kept rubbing his back, even though her mind was racing with who could have possibly put the blood root in the wine, when she heard shouting outside of her door.

There was a knock and she stood up telling the person to come in, her hand on her hip where she kept a dagger at all times.

"Captain, there's a storm brewing off the port side," said Mansel, peeking his nearly bald head around the door. His face looked worried and Arya gave Gendry a sympathetic pat and went with Mansel onto the deck.

Once near the side, he handed her a spyglass and she held it up, looking out at the horizon.

The ominous black clouds she saw looked to be a few miles off still, but they'd be there soon. Arya cursed under her breath, her heart picking up tempo.

"Let out the sails completely. That storm will be blowing and the wind should help us to run as far as we can before it hits us" she said handing the spyglass back to the quarter master, he nodded and scuttled off to do as she ordered.

Arya gripped the ship railing hard and stared out at the blackness swirling towards them with her heart pounding in fear. She remembered what she had told Gendry about learning to control the weather and right at that moment she wished that she could, more than anything.


	9. Chapter 9

The wind howled through their sails, pushing them faster and faster through the cresting waves. Arya had Mansel by her side as they practically flew across the water, they were discussing when the sails would need to come in as the storm hit. So far they'd had good luck and traveled many leagues since they'd spotted the squall, but Arya didn't believe it could hold forever.

Gendry was sick as a dog in the captain's quarters, and she'd ordered him to stay there after checking on him earlier and he'd been too weak to argue with her. Now she stood alone on the deck, watching as the black clouds finally caught them and the ship began to pitch and roll as the sea became more and more agitated.

Arya turned and gave the order to batten down the hatches and secure the sails. Mansel gave her a heavy piece of rope and told her to lash herself to the foremast so that she wouldn't be swept over. Arya decide to tie the rope around the mast and the other end around her waist, which allowed her to still move about the deck, shouting orders to her crew.

She looked towards Mansel, who had followed her lead and tied himself to the mast. The man had sent orders to the crew to get the ship prepared and Arya could still see them scurrying through the rigging. She wondered what it would be like up there and remembered how much her brother, Bran, had loved to climb when he was young. If only he still could.

As Arya paced the bridge, she felt there was something electric and beautiful about the storm, even as it tried to pull them apart. It made her feel more alive to be fighting for her life and the lives of her crew.

Arya stayed the night on the deck, while most of the crew huddled below. She was soaked through and freezing and every once in a while her teeth with give an involuntary chatter but she was determined to see them through. The storm had howled and tossed them, but ship had stayed steady, not taking on too much water and thankfully it hadn't turned cold enough to freeze the rain on the rigging and sails.

As a greenish light broke through the clouds, Arya realized it must be dawn. She swept her wet hair out of her face and turned to the first mate. He'd come to check for orders, as the rest of the crew scampered here and there keeping the ship from going down.

"I think we're going to make it," Arya said with a grim smile and the big man gave her a toothless smile back.

Just as a few minutes later, a wave hit them and the ship pitched to the port side. Arya fell towards the railing, the rope around her waist drawing taught and keeping her from going over the side. She should have been terrified, but she only felt alive. She wrapped the rope around her arm and began to haul herself back towards the center of the deck, it was like climbing up a slick hill.

The light from the dawn was flickering as the clouds moved around it and Arya looked up in horror to see the first mate cutting through the last tendrils of the rope holding her, she only had time to brace herself as she slid backwards and hit the railing hard with her back.

She flailed for a moment almost toppling over the side, but she had good balance and was able to cling to the wooden rail. She looked back up deck and saw that the first mate had disappeared. Arya wondered if he was going to alert the others that now was the time to attack.

Gendry had stayed in the cabin through the night, his head permanently stuck in a bucket as he retched his guts out. When he had nothing more in his stomach, he dry heaved, his eyes swimming with tears. He'd finally fallen asleep, hunched over on the floor, but he'd been awakened by a loud crashing sound and the ship had dipped. He no longer felt sick, but he was dizzy. His first thought was for Arya and he stood, trying to get his balance back. He nearly fell over twice but was finally able to walk across the cabin to the door, even as the floor seemed to shake and dip.

His first step outside was shaky but he soon found his balance as he moved across the deck looking for Arya. He assumed she would be up near the helm, helping to steer the ship, but he didn't see her on the bridge.

A crack of lightening flashed and the ship gave a huge heave as it rolled down the side of a steep wave. Gendry clung to the mainmast for a moment so as not to fall down. The rain was dripping into his eyes and made it hard for him to see, but suddenly he saw Arya, a tiny figure squatting by the rail of the ship. He couldn't tell what she was doing at such a distance, but his heart stopped beating so hard and he felt relief that she was there.

She seemed to hear something and turned. The big first mate came lumbering towards her and for a moment, Gendry thought he was going to help her up the deck. But instead, the big man picked up Arya like she was nothing and tossed her over the side.

Watching her disappear, Gendry's heart stopped.

When Arya went over, Gendry saw his whole future flash before his eyes and all he saw was red. Somehow, he'd marched back into the captain's cabin and pulled out his armor and sword that he'd stashed away under the bed. He didn't bother with the armor, but he needed the sword.

With a roar like a wounded bull he burst back onto deck, just as the storm started to ebb away. The rain now was just a soft patter on his face, rather than a torrent. The man who had tossed Arya over must have heard Gendry because he looked up suddenly, his small cold eyes taking in the sword in Gendry's hand.

The first mate reached down, taking up a harpoon that had been hidden in some ropes on the deck. He raised it at Gendry in challenged.

Gendry rushed the man, only seeing red, and usually this tactic would have been foolhardy, but the first mate wasn't much of a fighter and he stood no chance as Gendry pushed him back with the point of his sword towards the edge of the ship.

The first mate lowered the harpoon and tried to charge Gendry, but Gendry was used to such attacks after fighting for so many years and he turned the harpoon aside with his arm and duck closer to the man to swing at him with his sword. He cut the man's arm nearly clean off and he gave a brutal grunt. He'd reached the railing and Gendry pressed forward, kicking the now discarded harpoon away from the big man's reach.

The man's little eyes finally registered that Gendry was going to kill him and he tried to move to the side, but Gendry kicked at his legs while slamming into the man with all of his weight. He rolled gracefully over the rail and landed with a muffled splash in the icy water below. Gendry watched his head sink under and then he turned around.

Further up the deck, Mansel was leaning over the rail where Arya had gone over and seemed to be struggling with something. Gendry went to the man's side, ready to through him overboard too if he'd had any part in hurting Arya.

When he reached the man, he saw that he had a rope in his hands and he was bracing his feet against the balustrade and pulling with all his might. Gendry didn't dare to hope but he glanced over the side. Hanging by her waist, Arya looked up at him with fearful, large brown eyes in her pale face.

When they'd gotten her back onto deck, Gendry had pulled her into his arms and wouldn't let her go. She hadn't wanted to let go either, as Gendry helped to ease the violent shivering, as her teeth where fully clacking together now.

He finally let her go so that they could go into the captain's quarters where a fire had been started in the grate. Gendry silently thanked whatever squab had seen to it. Arya went behind the wooden screen, intent on shedding her soaked clothing, but she was shaking so hard she couldn't undo any of her buttons.

"Gendry," she called softly.

"Yes?"

"Can... can you help," she said her voice shaking as she tried to control her body's vibrations.

Gendry came around the screen and saw her struggling to undo the button to her tunic. He undid the buttons for her and helped her to slide it over her head. He kept his eyes only on the task at hand, but couldn't help running his warmer hands down her arms, which were ice cold.

"Thank you," she said and he watched her naked back as she sidled over to the bed and got in, pulling the covers to her chin.

Gendry came to sit beside her. He didn't want to let her out of his sight, not a bit. His heart was still running too fast in his chest after seeing her go over and fighting with the first mate.

"I thought you were gone," he said softly, brushing her sticky hair away from her forehead and out of her eyes. She breathed in deeply her eyes like liquid silver as she looked at him.

"I thought I was too," she said, "But I had enough time to tie my rope to the rail before he came for me. I was lucky."

Gendry leaned forward and kissed her softly. She brought her arms from under the covers and wrapped them around his neck, trying pull him closer.

He pulled back after a moment, reluctantly.

"I wish I could crawl inside your skin right now," she chattered out.

Something curled in the pit of Gendry's stomach at the thought of getting under the covers with a naked Arya. He felt bad because now wasn't good timing, but he loved her and wanted to show her.

"Better not, my lady," he murmured going to the chest to find more furs to pile on top of her.

She smiled despite herself. Gendry was not his father in the slightest. He'd always treated her with courtesy, even before he'd known she was a highborn lady, but better than that he'd always treated her as a person, no less or more than him. Although right at that moment, she'd been okay with a slip of his honor if it meant having his warm body beside her, but she knew him well enough to know he wouldn't go for it.

Once Arya was feeling warm enough to leave the bed, Gendry had a servant bring them dinner. It some kind of roasted fowl in a creamy sauce and Arya devoured it without a word to Gendry. As she ate and he picked at his good, a thought that had been plaguing Gendry finally escaped his lips. "What happened to your sister... and your brother?"

Arya kept on eating as if she had not heard and so she startled him a long moment later when she said, "Jon died first at the Wall. He was Lord Commander by then and his sworn brothers killed him. A friend of his, a Samwell Tarly, sent me a raven after it was done. He was good enough to release Jon's direwolf into the wild before the brothers got any ideas.

I went to Highgarden to see Sansa as soon I heard she was there. They'd married her to the heir, Willas. I got to see her a few hours before the childbed fever took her and her little one. Willas and my sister had affection for each other, but it wasn't love and all I could think of was my sister as a girl; always dreaming of falling in love with a lord and being happy in a castle. She got none of that. I know that's a horrible and silly thing to think." Arya's voice was hard as she told him this and he could see any grief she had had been pushed far down inside herself.

"It wouldn't be like that between us," Gendry said softly. He had a wild idea in his head that this might be part of why she refused to marry anyone, but he wasn't sure.

"I know it's not," she assured him.

"What does that mean?"

"I know you love me," Arya said with a bit of a smirk.

"And you?" Gendry asked. His heart was fluttering in his chest even though she was teasing him.

"How do you not know?" She said giving him a look he'd never seen before, as if willing him to read her mind.

"You've never made your feelings very clear," he said and she snorted.

"You're an idiot," she said in the same way she'd always called him that, but he heard it this time, it was her way of telling him she loved him too.

Once the storm had passed they encountered a vast ice field, the icebergs butting against the hull of the ship at times, as they jostled in the water, but Mansel navigated them carefully through it and soon enough Arya could see the island of Skagos standing hard and cold against the slate grey sky. Somewhere on the island was her brother, she could almost feel him.


	10. Chapter 10

The land facing them was harsh and covered mostly in snow, rock and ice, Arya could see why she'd been told it was tough to land there, there didn't seem to be a real harbor and the cliffs were lined with submerged icebergs and rocks. She looked to Mansel and he nodded grimly, turning them to the west so that they could skirt the cliffs.

"Not safe to land there, my lady. We'll have to anchor off the coast and give you a long boat to take you the rest of the way," he said.

"When we do land safely, you will be free Mansel. I will give you your ship back," Arya said and he nodded.

"I will miss you, lady. You've brought liveliness to the ship. I insist you take supplies and things to trade."

"Mansel, I will never forget you. If you're ever in need you let me know," she said, tucking the square coin she'd originally thrown at him when she took the ship into the palm of his hand. She really had grown fond of the old pirate who among his love for fine clothes, also loved wild stories.

Gendry came up beside her then, his blue eyes taking in the land as they swept past it, the salty air ruffled his thick black hair.

"It looks cold," he complained and Arya laughed. Some days she wondered why he had picked her, as she was as part of the north as it was possible to be and he bitterly hated cold.

Arya had shaken the hands of every soul on board, each one wishing her well. Gendry shook his head behind her, Arya had a way with people, that even a boat filled with savages would come around to love her.

They got close enough to the shore to put a long boat out and Arya and Gendry climbed aboard after packs of valuables and foodstuffs had been loaded. Arya was still waving as Gendry got the oars going, badly. He'd never rowed a boat before and it showed as their little boat zigzagged lazily through the surprisingly ice free waters.

Once they'd moved away from the pirate ship, Arya turned, "Let me row," she said and Gendry looked up from where he'd been awkwardly stroking through the water alternating oars.

"I can do it," Gendry said and she smiled, not unkindly, "You can but we'll never make it there."

Gendry scowled at her. "Then show me," he demanded and she moved carefully across the wooden bottom of the boat so that she stood closer to him.

"Pull with the oars together, like you're pulling on a rope. The timing has to be together," she said. Gendry stopped rowing all together and put both the oars forward and pulled the back through the water.

"Like this?"

"Yes," Arya said stepping to the prow once more and taking up her own oars. She wasn't going to sit back while Gendry did all the work, she was eager to see her brother.

The shore they landed on was rocky littered with broken ice and shoal. Arya slid and tripped as they she and Gendry dragged the boat up onto the rocks. She was grateful that Gendry was strong as an ox, as the boat was heavier than she'd have believed.

With a bump, they set the boat down and Gendry pulled their packs out of the boat Arya was busy looking around and trying to get her bearings.

"Where do you think he is?" Gendry asked. Until that moment, he hadn't thought about how truly difficult it may be to find Rickon, even on a small island. He'd surely be there under a different name and it was entirely possible that they could be hiding out away from any of the other settlements as well.

Arya hadn't told Gendry that she could see Nymeria's thoughts and sometimes she was connected to her brothers through their connections with their direwolves. She'd felt a strong pull to Skagos without really having known for sure Rickon was there.

Now that she stood on the island she could sense him and she knew if she could find a quiet place she could probably reach out to Rickon's direwolf. She didn't know what Gendry would make of that though.

"I have an idea," she said vaguely, taking her pack from him and heading off across the rocks.

"You're not going to tell me are you," Gendry said following her. He knew when she was hiding things from him, but he didn't know how to prod her into telling him what it was.

"Not today, " she said with a secretive smile.

They walked for several miles before they came to anything that resembled civilization and it was just an old dirt track running away into the copse of trees and in the opposite direction continued through the craggy hills that seemed to line the coast.

"Which way, my lady?"

"Straight off that cliff for calling me that," Arya snarked, pointing down the beach to where the land fell away and the sound of crashing waves rose up. Gendry ignored her jibe.

She didn't want to warg in front of Gendry, so she excused herself to go 'relieve herself' in the woods leaving him to wait on the path.

Once she could no longer see Gendry's back, she crouched behind a tree and closed her eyes. Warging had become easier for her, but she'd never tried reaching out so far, the wolf dreams and visions usually just came to her.

At first, she felt nothing but she took a breath and concentrated harder. Arya gasped as visions of wild and disjointed scenes flooded her head. She almost broke the contact, but she pushed and suddenly could see through the wolf's eyes clearly.

She was outside some small dwelling with animal pelts drying outside. She could smell them and the heavy wooden ashy scent of fire. In the early morning nothing much stirred, but she could hear rustling movement in the wooden building in the front of her with her heightened hearing. The building was made out of rough-hewn wooden planks and was built long and tall. The roof seemed to be more timber. Arya had never seen anything like it.

She'd expected to see stone buildings and maybe a castle but turning her head she saw many similar, albeit smaller, dwellings clustered close to the long house built in a clearing in between two forests. The ground was a mixture of half frozen mud and rocks and off towards the forests and further in the clearing were tall drifts of snow. Arya guessed they came up to direwolf's chest and that meant they'd almost be over Arya's head.

She sniffed, trying to discern something that would be 'brother' but the cook fire made the scents muddled. She went to the door of the large wooden house and scratched, whining loudly in the hopes of being heard by someone inside.

She heard shuffling and someone tall and thin opened the door and peered out. Arya sat on her haunches and looked as far she could, but most of the face was still hidden in shadow. All she saw was a flash of sharp cheekbones and a thin nose over thin lips.

"Shut up, Shaggy Dog," a raspy voice said, but it was a sharp admonishment, but the accent made Arya's ears prick up. It was Northern, but it wasn't.

She pushed past the figure and into the long house, and the woman let her, letting Arya know that Shaggy Dog was welcome inside. She sniffed once inside, but she'd only padded a few steps before she heard another voice.

"Osha, where are my boots?" A young male voice asked and Arya's heart fluttered. She looked further down in the darkened room and saw him. A lanky boy of perhaps ten years with a wild mop of reddish brown hair. He strode forward and lifted a sleeping mat, clearly looking for the missing boots.

"They're most likely by the door, where they should be," the other person said and Arya realized it was a woman, a very tall woman with thin but muscular arms sticking out from a sealskin vest. Her breeches seemed to be reindeer hide, an animal from beyond the wall that Arya had only heard about and never seen.

The boy turned from where he'd been looking and Arya saw his face. It was a Stark face, with sharp cheekbones and Tully blue eyes. With his mop of hair, he looked much like Robb had when he was young.

The woman moved towards the boy she was sure was Rickon Stark. Now that the light hit her face, Arya saw that her eyes were wild and her reddish red hair even more so. The boy suddenly straightened and looked at Shaggy Dog with a queer expression as if he was confused, as if he was looking into the wolf or through it.

Arya felt him reaching out with his mind to touch the wolf. As their consciousness's touched each other, Arya shied back and left the wolf's mind, but she was sure he'd felt her even for a moment and she was even more sure now that it was Rickon.

Arya nearly fell over from where she'd hunched down near a snow drift. Her bum had started to get chilly and she stood slowly. Coming back into her own body was like being doused in a bath of cold water and she breathed deeply to re-orient herself. She could hear Gendry calling her name now and she knew if she didn't hurry he'd be barging into the woods to make sure she was okay.

"Shut up, Gendry," she said as she made her way back to him, thinking all the while that anyone nearby would have heard them now.

"You weren't answering and it's be a few moments, my lady," he said and he did sound afraid.

Arya didn't answer, she didn't want to tell him a lie, and thankfully he didn't ask her anything further.

"Which way are we going?" Gendry asked as Arya had already started walking in a determinate way.

"North. I believe a village is that way if I remember the map correctly," she fibbed.

As they walked, she answered Gendry's questions about wildlings, which were completely foreign to him.

"You've said the people of Skagos live like free folk, what does that mean?"

"They don't have lords or kings. No one pays rents or is considered above or below the others. Men and woman share the same roles mostly. Their woman warriors are called spearwives. They probably would approve of your attempted siege of my castle." Arya said.

Gendry laughed. "Why do you say that?"

"The men steal the women to take as wives," Arya explained, "You have to be cunning and strong to wed a wildling woman."

"I'm one of those things," Gendry said and Arya smirked.

"Your kind of cunning is different but it's still there," Arya informed him.

"As you say, my lady."

"I'd refrain from calling me that here, Gendry. I don't doubt that the Skagosi will not appreciate a Lady Wolf on their island."

Gendry nodded, nonplussed, but now that they were here, Arya did feel afraid. What if Rickon didn't want to leave with her? Or if the Skagosi wouldn't let her see him or tried to fight her. She was a trained fighter, which meant she wasn't fool enough to think she could hold off a tribe of Skagosi, who were rumored to be wild and fearsome and also cannibals.

They reached the village as the shadows began to grow longer in the trees. They were met by a motley pack of dogs which sniffed at their legs as they walked. The dogs were huge, shaggy beasts that all seemed to be of the hound variety. They moved away once they sniffed Arya. She didn't know why but animals often could smell the wolf on her and shied away.

"A fine welcoming party," Gendry said and he looked around warily. They'd expected someone to come out to challenge or greet them, but it seemed everyone was inside their wooden houses, everyone that is except a tall woman with wild reddish brown hair who stood outside the largest long house her eyes shrewdly watching them approach.

As they came closer, the woman took up a long spear that reached her chin and held it loosely at her side as if it was normal thing for her to do. Arya touched the dirk at her hip. She didn't want to slew the wildling woman, but would if she had to.

"Halt. Who are you?" The woman called.

"No one and her humble servant. Who are you?"

The door behind the woman opened a crack and a pale face peered out from under a mop of wildly curly red-brown hair. Arya's heart fluttered to see Rickon, but he was glaring at her with hard eyes. He sniffed the air for a moment like a wolf and wrinkled his nose in disgust at what he found.

"They stink of lords and ladies, Osha," the boy said and the woman nodded.

"Lords and ladies mean nothing to us," Osha informed them, "What is your business here?"

"I'm here to find Rickon Stark," Arya said and Osha's eyebrows shot up her forehead.

"He is dead, lady. He died at Winterfell," Osha told her and she spit at Arya's feet.

"Then it must be his ghost that stands behind you."

"I'm Torsten. Not Rickon Stark," the boy insisted, but Arya saw his mouth tick slightly. A tell of a lie.

"If you mean to take the boy, you cannot have him. I will kill you in combat," Osha said lowering her spear at Arya as though she meant to run her through and Arya didn't doubt that given the chance she'd try.

"I'm his sister," Arya hissed incredulously at the tall wilding woman. Osha didn't seem to care as she bared pointy teeth in a fierce grin.

"Then you should have no problem winning," Osha said.

"Arya, don't," Gendry warned, but she was beyond hearing him as she drew her sword and took up her water dancing poise, turning side-face and giving Osha the smallest target possible.

Arya drew Ice and as soon as it flashed in the fading grey light, Rickon was out of the long house and across the yard. He took the sword from Arya and held it staring at the swirling colors in the Valerian steel.

Osha stuck her spear point in the hardened earth with force, making the haft wave wildly and she marched forward as if to continue protecting the young boy.

"What is it?" She asked and Rickon's eyes had grown large and watery, but he wiped away any hint of tears quickly.

"Our father's great sword," He answered and Osha looked up at Arya with suspicious eyes.

"Are you sure she is not the imposter from Winterfell"

Rickon studied Arya, coming close to sniff her and lift her hair to look at her face better. She felt him touch his mind to hers, even though his eyes gave nothing away.

"It's the real Arya," Rickon said, "I am sure of it."

Osha shook her head and stomped back towards the long house, going inside without a further word.

"Who is this," Rickon said looking at Gendry warily.

"Gendry Baratheon, first of his name, Lord of Storm's End," Arya told him, but Gendry finished for her, "Bastard of King Robert."

"The king that died?" Rickon asked, but didn't seem to need an answer.

He eyed them as a predator did prey, sizing them up and evaluating their weaknesses. Arya felt her heart swell with pride. The boy started pacing back and forth, much like a caged wolf would.

"Why did you bring him here? Why did you come?" Rickon's tone was accusatory and harsh.

"Gendry has helped me march from Riverun to here. He's promised to help me reunite my family."

"Where are the others?" Rickon wanted to know and Arya sighed.

"All dead, except you and Bran."

Rickon stopped moving entirely and his eyes hardened.

"Liar," he said and Arya shook her head.

"Why would I lie? It serves no purpose and you should know it Rickon. Can you feel them?"

The boy's eyes welled with tears, but he kept them at bay. "How?"

"I will tell you the tales, Rickon, but not right now. Right now, I'd really love some food and a chance to rest. We've come a long way."

"How did you get here?" He asked leading Arya and Gendry towards the long house.

"Your sister commandeered a pirate vessel," Gendry informed him.

"You?" He asked incredulously.

"Me," Arya affirmed.

"But you're…"

"A woman? Yes, I seem to have noticed that as well," Arya said dryly and Rickon laughed a low chortling noise that sounded brittle in the cold.

"No, I was going to say skinny."

Gendry laughed, but soon it died as they entered the dim long house.

A hulking man who looked half giant stood in front of them glaring at them with startling blue eyes. His craggy face was covered mostly with a blonde beard. Though Gendry was big, this man was bigger and he had a long battle axe in his hand.

"Hallborn, this is my sister Arya and her escort Gendry," Rickon said and he grunted as if that didn't matter.

"What do you want?" He said in a deep rumbling voice.

"I've come for Rickon. I need my brothers to retake our house seat," Arya explained.

Hallborn looked at Rickon and shook his great head, making his partly braided hair fly out around him.

"You bring trouble," he growled swinging around to stomp off further into the house.

While Hallborn was intimidating in looks as well as manner, he'd allowed Arya and Gendry to stay in the long house even giving them use of a small sleeping pallet near the fire. The long house actually had two floors and Hallborn, Osha and Rickon slept on the upper level in beds made of fresh smelling timber.

Hallborn was Osha's man, having stolen her in the wilding way. Osha made him show them where she'd smashed out a couple of his teeth while they ate supper.

He made them leave their weapons outside, patting down Arya to make sure he'd gotten every dagger she'd hidden. She'd huffed at him, but didn't argue. She'd rather win over the Skagosi than fight them.

Hallborn and Osha clearly didn't trust Arya or Gendry, although for some reason, Arya felt most of their distrust was aimed at her. She realized then that Osha had raised her brother for almost ten years and she treated him as if he was her son, scolding him for putting mud on the plank floor and making sure he ate enough at dinner.

Osha loved her brother fiercely and Arya stood to come between them. She knew it put her and Osha at odds and the wildling woman took every opportunity to remind Arya that she didn't know Rickon.

When they'd finished supper, which was whale soup. Osha and Hallborn retired to their furs, but Rickon stayed up asking Arya questions. Arya didn't doubt the other two weren't really sleeping, but rather listening to her tales.

Predictably, talk turned to their family. Rickon wanted to know what had happened to each of them, Arya realizing that he had only known about their father being beheaded. She re-counted each of their deaths, shedding tears she didn't know she still had along with the boy.

"You must come with us to find Bran. There's a war coming and I need my pack."

"I don't know you. Why should I help?"

Arya was at a loss for what to say and Gendry could see the hurt in her eyes as well, even though it was only there for a second before her face became impassive. He liked to call it her faceless face. Under the table he took her hand, squeezing her fingers comfortingly.

Rickon caught the motion and watched Arya unconsciously lean into the big knight.

"I need you," she finally said in a small voice that Gendry hadn't heard in a long time.

Rickon didn't answer but instead asked, "How did you meet Gendry?"

"We were marched out of King's Landing by a man of the Night's Watch for our protection, but we didn't make it to the wall. We were captured and then escaped," Gendry answered for her.

"We became… separated and I went to Braavos to become a faceless man," Arya supplied.

"Why did he come with you to find me?" Rickon asked as if Gendry wasn't there.

"I want to marry your sister," Gendry said in a soft voice and Rickon somehow didn't look surprised.

"A lot of trouble for a betrothal. The Skagosi steal their women. None of this haggling," Rickon said with contempt.

"Arya doesn't want to marry, under any condition."

Rickon looked at her then, studying her thoughtfully. "No, she didn't want to be a lady when I knew her either. My first memory of her was her racing into the room in muddy breeches."

Gendry chuckled, "So is mine."

The next morning, Rickon took her hunting. It was a chance for them to talk alone and Arya was struck by how much older her brother had become.

They tramped through the snowy woods, Rickon showing Arya how he spotted the rabbit warrens where the snow hares would be hiding.

As he skinned the rabbit he'd caught, much faster than Arya had ever seen someone do, she asked him everything she'd been dying to know, but he had questions of his own.

"What have they taught you?"

"How to hunt and fight. We ice fish sometimes on the sea, but they've only allowed me to go once. It's very dangerous."

"How did you win back the North?" He wanted to know.

"A lot of bargaining and a few battles. It wasn't as hard as you'd think. I think they were waiting for a Stark to come back," she was looking at her hunting knife thinking of the family she'd lost and found.

"You're going to have to marry him," Rickon said solemnly. His big blue eyes were very serious in his incredibly young face.

"I know," Arya said looking down with embarrassment at being scolded by her little brother and she didn't need to ask how he knew, there was something about her brother that was older than his years.

"He's a good man, Arya. I can tell. It would help keep you safe."

She bristled at that, even though she knew her little brother was just trying to help.

"Rickon, you have no idea what I've done since I saw you last. Gendry doesn't need to protect me," she said as he hung the rabbit pelt form his belt and carried the rest of the carcass with them. They started to move back towards the squat stone castle.

"You're right. I don't know what you've done. I hardly remember before when we were all together, but I can tell he's good for you even if he doesn't need to protect you," Rickon said and Arya instantly felt bad. He was right, he'd been only three when they'd ridden off for King's Landing.

"We need more time to talk," Arya said and Rickon nodded, "We do, but we won't get it until we leave Skagos."

"Why do they not trust me?" Arya wanted to know and Rickon smiled with his prominent canines, he looked fittingly wolfish.

"You're a lady. They don't take to lords and ladies here, sister. They're much more like wildlings. Hallborn says that the Skagosi haven't bowed to anyone in hundreds of years."

"Is that why, Osha brought you here, so she would be safe with her own kind."

"I know you don't like her much, but Osha has been protecting me since we left Bran and the North. It was safer to be dead."

"I know," Arya said grudgingly. She supposed she'd have guarded Rickon just as fiercely if she'd been in Osha's place.

"Will you leave with us. To seek Bran? It's your choice, not theirs," Arya said and paused in his steps.

Her little brother was no longer a mischief making child and he considered her words carefully.

"I will think on it, sister," he finally gave her. It was all Arya could hope for.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: I realized because of the reviewer, dita, that I have been bad about adding notes here on while I have added some from time to time on Archie of Our Own where I post this story as well. I apologize for that. To answer dita's questions, the events of this story are occurring about 5 years after the Winds of Winter. Arya was on Braavos for another two years after Jon died. At this point, Arya's about 17-18 years old.

They'd been on Skagos for four days and Arya was getting restless to be off the unforgivable island. The people were harsh and glared whenever they saw her. Only Gendry's size kept him from receiving the same treatment and Arya only left the long house if he was with her. She had been sorely tempted more than once to fight with the Skagosi spearwives, who spat on her boots and called her beastling. Gendry kept her calm enough to ignore them and she needed that.

Arya sat in the long hall on a wooden bench swinging her legs as Gendry looked over Hallborn's battle axe. She could tell he was admiring the craftsmanship and determining how it had been made.

"We're going to have to leave soon, with or without him," Arya finally said and Gendry heard all the bitterness in her tone.

"He'll come with us," Gendry said calmly.

"How do you know?"

Gendry shrugged and looked at her. "He's your blood and he loves you."

"He barely knows me," Arya said quietly.

"Aye, but he'll never know you if he stays here."

They both fell silent as Osha appeared, Shaggy Dog at her heels.

"If you do take him, you better keep him safe. I didn't risk my skin to have him killed."

Arya's look turned sour at the wilding woman's words and Gendry could see her working up a rude retort.

"Peace. No one wants anything bad to happen to Rickon," he interrupted before Arya could get anything out.

Osha and Arya glared at each other for a moment and then Gendry cleared his throat. "Perhaps you should ask Osha what you need, Arya."

"We will need to be leaving soon. We have a small row boat, but it won't get us to Eastwatch. I was wondering if I could trade with you for something a bit more durable."

"I will ask Hallborn," Osha said, which really meant the elders of the Skagosi clan. Arya had already been subjected to one of their meetings when they'd decided whether or not to kill Arya and Gendry upon their arrival. It had almost been amusing, but she hadn't appreciated the remark that she looked like a breeder or when Sven Stoneclaw had said he'd gladly steal her from Hallborn and take her as a spearwife if it came down to it.

Gendry had held her back from launching at the big muscular man. Sven looked like he could crush her within his big meaty hands. That was the way of most of the Skagosi were built; big and strong, even the women. Sven had long scraggly blonde hair and blonde whiskers over a craggy weather beaten face. He only had only one eye, choosing to wear a black patch over the missing one, and the remaining one stared out bright blue and wild.

In the end it had been Rickon who had spoken for them, pleading that they couldn't kill a woman of his blood or her knight. The elders had listened thankfully.

Rickon appeared then in the long hall then, his curly hair as wild as ever, with leaves and twigs sticking out of the mess. His clothes were disheveled and dirty as well, which meant he'd been wrestling with Shaggy Dog.

"Does Nymeria remember her brother," he asked as he came to sit beside Arya.

"Of course. She longs for her pack," Arya said and Gendry didn't ask though he gave her that look again that said he wanted to know what on earth she was talking about.

"I used to dream of them, but they've faded," Arya knew he meant the wolf dreams, where she'd always found she could usually sense her own brothers through their connections with the direwolves.

"It has been many years, but I never forget," Arya said Rickon nodded slowly.

"I've made my decision," he said and Gendry put down the axe and moved to stand next to Arya. Osha stopped what she was doing as well and came over.

Rickon looked abashed at the sudden audience, but he sighed and said "I will go with you, Arya. I want to help find Bran."

"Will you return?" Osha asked hopefully and Arya did feel bad for the wildling woman then. She truly had come to love Rickon as if he was her own blood.

"I can't promise that. I'm a Stark," Rickon said to her and he reached out to touch her cheek gently where a tear had begun its decent. The wildling swiped his hand away and hugged him close.

"You're always welcome here, my wolf child," she said in a choked voice.

As they bid the Stone men goodbye, Gendry felt apprehension in his stomach. They'd gotten Rickon, but now they would be setting course to Eastwatch. Arya had assured him it was a shorter journey than it had been to reach Skagos in the first place, but he hated sailing by this point.

"I'll be grateful when I can stand on solid ground and never step on a ship again," Gendry said to Arya as they walked along the road to the cove where the Skagosi ships were moored. The long boat that Rickon had been gifted by Sven Stoneclaw held forty rowers and he had promised would get them through the ice.

Rickon, though he was all of ten, had been raised on boats, joining the whalers on their hunts. Arya looked proud when he'd told her the story of being run aground on an iceberg and leaping across the ice flows to spear a whale that had popped up in open water. Sven had helped tow the whale back to the boat. Rickon said they'd lifted it above their heads, but Sven had admitted they'd drug it with heavy metal chain through the water. Rickon had told the story during their farewell feast to the guffaws and delight of all gathered.

Arya wasn't sad to see the back of Skagos. They didn't take kindly to a Stark on their shores, even though they'd taken Rickon in and made him their own. Just as always she was impatient to continue on to their next destination.

The rowers were hard men and they didn't talk to Arya, but she preferred it that way. The looks they gave her sent a chill down her spine. As if they were sizing her up for a stew pot and knowing the rumors about Skagosi they might be.

The journey north wasn't as eventful as the previous one. Arya awoke each day to the sound of fife music, which one of the sailors insisted helped the rowers keep time, and she would break her fast with Rickon and Gendry at a rough wooden table on the provisions Osha had given them, which consisted of lots of dried fish and berries.

Once that was done, she would spar with Rickon. Her brother was quick and cunning, a quality she prided herself on as well, but sometimes he was too wild in his attacks and Arya made him pay for it every time.

"Ow," Rickon cried as Arya hit his upper arm with the flat of her sword. She knew it'd raise a bruise but she'd never been taught how to take it easy, nor would she on her brother. He needed to be tough for their journey ahead.

"You're still counterattacking like a bear. You don't have the size or strength to overwhelm me, Rickon. Hang back and calculate my moves, that is your best chance to best me."

Rickon nodded, but as they fought on, Arya ended up stomping on his foot when he tried to push to close to her and he threw down his sword in frustration.

"I don't want to fight any more," he panted.

"That's fine. You can watch me and Gendry spar. I will show you how speed and cunning beat strength nine times out of ten."

"Gendry isn't going to hit you. He loves you," Rickon said derisively.

"He will too. He knows better than to take it easy on me."

"Gendry is standing right here and he can hear you both," the knight said sourly.

"Gendry, show me how to best my sister since she thinks it can't be done."

Gendry sighed, "Rickon, your sister is a trained fighter. I am just a blacksmith."

"I've fought you before. You are not giving yourself enough credit," Arya said.

"So show me," Rickon insisted and Gendry reluctantly took up his fallen sword. He was much better with a warm hammer, but he didn't want to hurt Arya and he knew she'd push him to it. Somehow a sword was safer.

Arya faced him, sliding to his right and turning her body the way he'd seen her do so many times. Gendry didn't wait, but rushed her and Arya stepped gracefully aside her sword swing out to 'wap' Gendry on the thigh.

Gendry spun and swung down hard and fast at Arya. She parried, but her sword swung violently down with the strength of the blow and Gendry hit her in the shoulder with his own. It wasn't hard enough to hurt her, but it was enough to knock her off her balance and she barely got her sword up to block his next swing.

She was glad he was attacking her like this, Rickon's fighting style was similar if not as effective. The next swing, she parried, then she ducked and lunged under the reach of his sword smacking him on the hip with her own sword. Gendry scowled but kept coming at her, his face a mask of concentration. If Arya had met him in combat on a real battlefield she had no doubt he'd have been terrifying.

He swung hard and fast and her blade rung heavily with each of his blows. His superior reach caused problems for her, but she let her speed and agility keep him on his toes. Just as she had been about to feint to her left though, he changed tactics and pushed forward into her, his sword coming near her face more than once.

She waited him out, stopping his blows with her sword and then when he was within range and had her sword crossed over her chest with his own, she head-butted him. Gendry groaned and dropped the sword, holding his jaw where she'd made contact, almost making him bite his tongue and slamming his teeth together violently. Arya put the tip of her sword under his chin and he couldn't help glaring at her.

"Can you teach me that?" Rickon said eagerly from the sidelines and Arya lowered her sword.

"Not today, but I want you to think about your attacks and meet me in on the morrow improved."

"Alright, alright," Rickon grumbled taking his sword from Gendry and going off to speak to the captain of the ship. The man had sailed with Rickon before, teaching him how to tie important knots and the boy often spent time with him.

Once Rickon had disappeared, Arya reached up and cupped Gendry's cheek. "I'm sorry," she said and he laughed bitterly.

"No you're not. Don't insult me by lying, Arya."

"I should be though. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I'll be fine. It's important your brother learns, since he'll be helping Bran to rule Winterfell."

Arya sighed. She had told Gendry of her plans the night before and she was still a bit uncertain. Her brother was only ten, but Bran had been much younger than that when he'd been left as the Stark in Winterfell and it was important Rickon learn now. She couldn't hold the North on her own and having her brothers help would be invaluable to her.

"He'll be ready," Arya said with confidence. As wild and headstrong as her brother was, he was also a quick learner and fighting was in his blood.

It took several weeks for them to reach Eastwatch by the Sea. Arya had grown just as tired of the rocking and rolling as Gendry and they had spent long hours in the hold, talking about the things they missed on dry land.

Rickon told them they were pathetic when he'd heard them. His time on Skagos had given him sea legs and he enjoyed the cold wind blowing through his hair as they made their way through the ice.

"There are seals on the rocks. It's a good omen," Rickon said as they pulled in site of the castle of the Night's Watch.

"It's the Bay of Seals, Rickon," Arya said sarcastically as she joined him at the rail and watch the seabirds wheel above the rocks. Eastwatch had been built in the shadow of the end of the Wall where it gave way to the sea. The castle towered dark and icy above them and the Wall arched hundreds of feet higher than that.

"The Wall," Gendry said in awe from Arya's right. Gendry had been sold to the Night's Watch, but somehow had never made it to the Wall. She wondered if he was thinking about that too.

As they sailed closer, Arya watched the small fishing boats, crewed by wildings, making their way out into the deeper water. The port wasn't bustling like White Harbor had been, but there were more ships than Arya had expected, this far north.

The Skagosi waited long enough to see that Rickon had all of his things and they pulled back out into the bay. "They're not staying to rest?" Arya questioned and Rickon shrugged.

"Being away from the island makes them anxious and they don't trust the Watch."

Rickon had been fully supplied with food and clothing by Osha and Hallborn, but what they hadn't been given was any coin, but Arya had kept some of the jewelry and coins from Mansel's _Dancing Lady_. She used this money to purchase horses.

"We need to ride as far as we can before the sun goes down," Arya explained, as she handed the reigns of Rickon's horse to him.

The going was slow, as it had snowed the night before and some of the snowbanks reached high up the horses' legs, but when they stopped for the night, they could no longer see the Eastwatch or the bay and Arya felt contented with that.

Arya was standing in a copse of dead white trees, the cold wind hitting her skin like needles made of ice. She saw a small green light glowing ahead and she moved toward it, her footsteps crunching in the snow.

Suddenly she was standing in front of a weirwood tree, it's carved face was that of a wide cheeked old woman. As she stared, the tree began to weep blood. The red running down the white cheeks and staining the trunk darkly.

"Run, Arya, Rickon. Go South and warn everyone," a voice called. Arya recognized Bran's voice, but she didn't know where it was coming from.

"I'm not leaving without you," Arya yelled at him.

"I'm already lost."

Arya woke with a start, her legs had twisted in her furs and she struggled with them, panicking at the restriction. At the movement Gendry also woke up. He sat up and put a calming hand on Arya's shoulder. In the corner of their tent, Rickon slept on undisturbed.

"Stop thrashing about, Arya."

"I'm sorry," She snapped.

"What's wrong?"

"Why do you say something is wrong?" If there was one thing that Gendry knew about Arya, she hated to show her fear and so she'd shake and scream in her sleep, but hardly ever told him why. Regardless, he knew she'd had a night terror.

"Because I know you. Tell me," he pleaded with her. When she stilled and didn't look like she was going to say another word, he leaned over and planted a soft kiss on her mouth.

"You're a horrible person, "she grouched when he pulled away.

"Why's that?"

"You know my weaknesses," she said scooting over so she could lean against him to regain some body heat. Gendry laughed, he was quite pleased with himself that he did.

"I dreamed of Bran. He said to turn back."

"It's just a nightmare, Arya," Gendry said comfortingly, while rubbing her back.

"It wasn't though. Bran spoke to me," Arya insisted.

"What do you mean?"

Arya sighed. "Remember when I said that Nymeria wanted her litter mates? I can communicate with her and sometimes my brother through their wolves."

"Like... like..." he struggled to form the thought.

"A warg?"

"A warg. Yes."

She'd expected him to pull away from her but instead he just sat in stunned silence, seemingly thinking hard, until finally he said, "How did you not know where your brothers were?"

"I said sometimes I can communicate. It's not perfect. I haven't had any visions for a long time up until Nymeria came back."

"But you've had them before? How did you know what they are?"

"I didn't. Not at first. I tried so hard to be no one, but the dreams wouldn't let me. It was like fighting against my nature. I couldn't give up being a Stark, a Wolf of the North, as much as I couldn't give up breathing and continue living, so I had to leave Braavos."

Gendry was stunned. Moments were Arya opened up entirely were few and far in-between and it shocked him to hear her be so candid. He also was mulling over what her words meant. He didn't really know and he cursed never being educated when he was a child. He'd never know the things Arya did and it was frustrating to keep up with her in his ignorance.

"You're not afraid or disgusted," Arya asked and Gendry's eyebrows furrowed.

"Why would I be?"

"Because of what I can do. It's not considered natural. They call us skinchangers and curse us."

"You're Arya," he said as if it explained everything, like his acceptance of her wild tendencies. Perhaps it did.

"Bran is trying to warn us away," she said instead, bringing the conversation back to her dream.

"What are we going to do?"

"The only thing we can; go forward. I need him, Gendry, and he needs us."


End file.
